KARACHI: The stock market gained 240 points to end the fiscal year on Tuesday over improved sentiments of investors over approval of finance bill and successful action by security forces against terrorists a day earlier.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,422 points as against 34,182 points showing an increase of 240 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the financial year ended on a positive note with 240 points at 34,422 points.
Trading volumes also improved over the day, however, the focus was still at marked to market valuation of securities in the portfolios.
Among banking sector stocks, HBL and NBP did high volumes, amid small price gains. Comparatively, MCB posted better gains but the volumes remained in check. Cement sector stocks, which performed well during the past 2 sessions, remained muted.
E&P sector stocks also lacked any excitement, which coincided with international crude oil prices, showing nominal price changes.
Refinery sector led the volumes with 43.3 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (27.4 million) and Technology (27.1 million). Among scrips, PRLR did 39.1 million shares, followed by SSGC (14.6 million) and TRG (13.7 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+140 points), Fertilizer (+30 points), Food (+24 points), Technology (+21 points) and Power (+16 points).
Volumes increased from 156.9 million shares to 223.3 million shares (+42 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 33 percent to reach US$ 44.7 million as against US$ 33.5 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PRLR1, SSGC, TRG, KEL and HUMNL, which formed 37 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include MCB (+69 points), NESTLE (+21 points), UBL (+17 points), OGDC (+17 points) and HBL (+15 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PPL (-12 points), HCAR (-7 points), JLICL (-6 points), KOHC (-4 points), and SHEL (-4 points).
