Stock market gains 209 points amid profit taking

Stock market gains 209 points amid profit taking

KARACHI: The stock market gained 209 points on Wednesday as profit taking activity was seen during the day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 38,836 points as against 38,627 points showing an increase 209 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a positive note with +154 points and added an overall sum of 497 points. Anticipated profit booking brought the Index down to +209 points by the end of session.

Banks, Steel, Chemical and Fertilizer sectors saw profit booking before last day of the trading week. Among E&P companies, PPL sustained selling pressure amid high volumes.

Power sector led the volumes with 93.7 million shares, followed by Cement (60.7 million) and Technology (60.2 million). Among scrips, PAEL topped the volumes with 26.2 million shares, followed by MLCF (26.1 million) and BOP (23.4 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+62 points), Power (+59 points), E&P (+49 points), O&GMCs (+25 points), Insurance (+23 points).

Volumes increased from 394.3 million shares to 508.3 million shares (+29 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 30 percent to reach US$ 126.3 million as against US$ 97.1 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PAEL, MLCF, BOP, FFL and PRL, which formed 35 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HUBC (+32 points), LUCK (+28 points), KEL (+19 points), PPL (+19 points) and POL (+15 points).

Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-35 points), FFC (-20 points), MEBL (-11 points), FFBL (-11 points), and PAKT (-9 points).