KARACHI: The stock market gained 178 points on Friday amid selling pressure witnessed during the day.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 40,833 points as against 40,655 points showing an increase of +178 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in the range of +399 points and -161 points during the two sessions, closing +178 points.
Selling pressure was evident throughout but Oil chain, especially E&P stocks, staged good recovery by the end of session.
Higher international oil prices kept investors’ interest alive. Other than oil stocks, yesterday’s detailed decision on Pervez Musharraf inflicted more pain for investors, which saw banking and cement sector stocks under selling pressure.
O&GMCs topped the chart with 32.8 million shares, followed by Cement (18.4 million) and Food (16 million). Among scrips, HASCOLR maintained top position with 18.6 million shares, followed by FFL (14.2 million) and UNITY (8.7 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+134 points), Fertilizer (+27 points), Inv Banks (+26 points), Banks (-38 points), Textile (-18 points).
Volumes declined from 260.2 million shares to 180.7 million shares (-31 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 25 percent to reach US$ 55.1 million as against US$ 73.2 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOLR1, FFL, UNITY, KEL and PAEL, which formed 30 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+63 points), OGDC (+41 points), DAWH (+24 points), PAKT (+19 points) and FFC (+18 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include UBL (-17 points), HMB (-15 points), SNGP (-15 points), NML (-13 points), and MCB (-12 points).
