KARACHI: The stock market gained 371 points on Thursday owing to improved rating of top five banks of Pakistan.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 40,641 points as against 40,271 points showing an increase of 371 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that following up the country ratings, Moody’s improved the rating for 5 Pakistan Banks as well, which caused the price gains in banking sector stocks in general, besides buying activity in cyclicals.
News of increase in cement dispatches over the 5 month period also gave confidence to investors to invest in Cement as well as Steel sector.
The benchmark KSE100 index recorded highest traded value for CY2019 so far with US$ 129.6 million. Traded volumes also crossed 500 million mark again with majority in Cement sector (111.6 million), followed by Banks (51.4 million) and Power (36.6 million).
Among scrips, UNITY registered volumes of 35.2 million shares followed by FCCL (34 million) and MLCF (20.5 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+105 points), E&P (+80 points), O&GMCs (+55 points), Cement (+54 points) and Fertilizer (+29 points).
Volumes increased significantly from 393.2 million shares to 507.5 million shares (+29.1 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 36 percent to reach US$ 129.6 million as against US$ 95.4 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, FCCL, MLCF, KEL and TRG, which formed 25 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+53 points), HBL (+42 points), PSO (+28 points), POL (+26 points) and NBP (+24 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include GLAXO (-9 points), MARI (-9 points), DAWH (-8 points), MTL (-7 points), and KAPCO (-5 points).
