Stock market gains 37 points in range bound activity

Stock market gains 37 points in range bound activity

KARACHI: The stock market gained 37 points on Wednesday in a range bound trading activity during the day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 42,022 points as against 41,985 points showing an increase of 37 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in range between -374 points and +211 points, closing the session +37 points.

Selling pressure ensued the global sell off which was observed overnight in US markets and carried the same sentiment in regional markets.

KSE100 followed suit and saw selling pressure in E&P, OMCs and Cement sectors throughout the session with varying intensity. Selling pressure built again in PSO, HASCOL and UBL by the close of session which otherwise saw buying activity.

OGDC & PPL also observed selling activity on the back of significant decline in crude oil prices.

Technology sector posted high volumes of 172.9 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (83.2 million) and Refinery (64.8 million). Among scrips, HASCOL topped the volumes with 75.6 million shares, followed by PTC (63 million) and PIBTL (57.2 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+42 points), Technology (+32 points), Insurance (+23 points), Food (+22 points), E&P (-55 points), O&GMCs (-23 points),  and Power (-20 points).

Volumes declined from 884.4 million shares to 707.0 million shares (-20 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 24 percent to reach US$ 128.0 million as against US$ 167.7 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, PTC, PIBTL, WTL and TRG, which formed 38 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HBL (+31 points), TRG (+20 points), NATF (+18 points), LUCK (+14 points) and JLICL (+12 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (-31 points), HUBC (-14 points), UBL (-14 points), PPL (-14 points) and MARI (-11 points).