Stock market gains 174 points amid opposition rally

Stock market gains 174 points amid opposition rally

KARACHI: The stock market gained 174 points on Friday amid protest rally staged by opposition parties.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,378 points as against 34,204 points showing an increase of 174 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market largely traded positive, although the benchmark index saw a drawdown of 96 points, but closed the session 174 points.

Second session proved dramatic, when Azadi March protesters were relayed on TV screens demonstrating the strength that reflected negatively on the market.

The index however, recovered during MoC and buying activity resumed with full vigour. E&P, Autos and Fertilizer largely took bearish stance, whereas Cement, OMCs and large cap blue chip stocks performed well on the bourse.

Sector wise activity showed Cement leading the table with 46.2 million shares (contributed by FCCL, MLCF, PIOC and DGKC among top 10 volume leaders), followed by Technology (11.7 million) and Banks (11 million).

Among scrips, FCCL realized trading volume of 12.9 million shares, followed by MLCF (10.8 million) and STPL (9.1 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cements (+67 points), Banks (+63 points), Power Generation (+41 points), Fertilizer (+23 points) and Inv Banks (+14 points).

Volumes decreased from 184.0 million shares to 157.1 million shares (-14.6 percent DoD). Average traded value also decreased by 6 percent to reach US$ 41.5 million as against US$ 44.1 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include FCCL, MLCF, STPL, BOP and KEL, which formed 30 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include HUBC (+39 points), LUCK (+32 points), MARI (+23 points), BAFL (+19 points) and MCB (+17 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (-16 points), PPL (-16 points), PMPK (-10 points), POL (-7 points), and BAHL (-5 points).