KARACHI: The stock market gained 305 points on Wednesday amid activities seen in cement scrips following reports of increase in prices.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 39,882 points as against 35,578 points showing an increase of 305 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a positive note with +73 points and carried the momentum on the back of banking sector, however, selling activity brought the Index down by 152 points erasing the gains posted earlier in the session.
Market bounced back on the report of increase in cement price / bag, which caused several cement sector stocks to hit upper circuit.
E&P stocks also took cue from international crude oil prices and closed the session in green. Banking sector on the other hand faced resistance, which kept the pressure on the prices of banking stocks.
Cement sector led the volumes with 136 million shares, followed by Technology (62. million) and Food (47.5 million). Among scrips, MLCF topped the volumes with 38.5 million shares, followed by POWER (37.5 million) and TRG (34.5 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+164 points), E&P (+55 points), Technology (+37 points), Textile (+22 points), Fertilizer (-23 points) and Banks (-21 points).
Volumes dropped from 593.8 million shares to 501.9 million shares (-15 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 16 percent to reach US$ 132.5 million as against US$ 157.8 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, POWER, TRG, FFL and HASCOL, which formed 34 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include LUCK (+49 points), TRG (+37 points), DGKC (+28 points), MLCF (+25 points) and CHCC (+22 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include UBL (-17 points), ENGRO (-16 points), PAKT (-14 points), BAHL (-14 points) and FFC (-13 points).
