Equity market gains 211 pts as Pak-India tension eases

Equity market gains 211 pts as Pak-India tension eases

KARACHI: The equity market ended with gain of 211 points as tension eases between Pakistan and India.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 39,750 points as against 39,539 points showing an increase of 211 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market seems to have taken the path to complete recovery.

The concerns of India-Pakistan confrontation are apparently put to rest by the investors, and participation in stock market is also picking pace.

Today’s highlight was BOP’s financial result announcement that declared dividend in addition to high EPS, in comparison with corresponding figures.

Total traded volume in BOP was 90.8 million (54 percent of total market volume), while the scrip hit upper circuit.

Overall, the banking sector garnered 102 million shares, followed by Technology and Engineering (Steel) Sectors.

Post BOP’s result announcement, investors took positive bets in other scrips, such as SSGC, SNGP, NETSOL etc.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+118 points), Fertilizer (+58 points), O&GMCs (+44 points), Power (+26 points), Insurance (+19 points), E&P (-25 points).

Volumes increased from 137 million shares to 168 million shares (+23 percent DoD). However, average traded value declined by 21 percent to reach US$ 42 million as against US$ 53 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include BOP, TRG, PAEL, PIBTL and ISL, which formed 62 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include HBL (+54 points), UBL (+28 points), BOP (+24 points), PSO (+21 points), and EFERT (+18 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PPL (-26 points), MCB (-18 points), SEARL (-14 points), HMB (-7 points) and MARI (-7 points).