KARACHI: The stock market gained 102 points on Thursday amid cautious approach of investors amid negative reports from political front.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 42,306 points as against 42,204 points showing an increase of 102 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market maintained the cautious approach as have been witnessed in the previous sessions, however, in the process discounted the potential negative impact of resignation of Opposition parties from National and Provincial Assemblies as well as the threat of Indian false flag operation.
Investors focused gaze on fundamentally sound scrips, essentially the main board scrips, such as HBL and NBP which not only highlights dividend prospects but have so far shown healthy profits in the bottom line.
Cement sector remained range bound, as did O&GMCs and Fertilizer sectors. Investors, in general, have been waiting for a clear positive trigger and have weathered the threats from Political as well as Law and order situation. PIBTL topped the volumes with 50 million shares, followed by UNITY (35.6 million) and KEL (34.1 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+47 points), Technology (+21 points), Cement (+15 points), Transport (+13 points), Fertilizer (+12 points) and E&P (-20 points).
Volumes increased from 438.1 million shares to 472.1 million shares (+8 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 2 percent to reach US$ 120.1 million as against US$ 118.3 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PIBTL, UNITY, KEL, PRL and TRG, which formed 40 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include FFC (+32 points), TRG (+21 points), HBL (+17 points), BAHL (+15 points) and PIBTL (+13 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include ENGRO (-20 points), MARI (-10 points), POL (-7 points), KTML (-5 points) and UBL (-5 points).
