The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a robust upward trend on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index soared by 482 points, closing at 40,271 points compared to 39,789 points the previous day.
The surge was attributed to significant buying activities observed in major scrips across various sectors.
Market analysts at Arif Habib Limited reported that despite a brief dip during the session, which followed yesterday’s slide of approximately 400 points, the market rebounded impressively, gaining 518 points by the close of the trading session. Ultimately, the market concluded with a noteworthy gain of 482 points. Notably, buying activities were predominantly observed in the Cement, Autos, Steel, and Banking sectors.
During the trading session, the release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers, which surpassed street consensus, had a limited impact on dampening buying activity. The Cement sector led the trading volumes with 62.8 million shares, followed by Chemical (41.9 million) and Banks (31.8 million).
In terms of individual scrips, UNITY topped the trading table with 26.8 million shares, trailed by LOTCHEM (17.7 million) and KEL (15.9 million), indicating investor interest in a diverse range of stocks.
Various sectors contributed significantly to the market’s performance, with Banks (+124 points), Cement (+69 points), Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (O&GMCs) (+53 points), Exploration & Production (E&P) (+28 points), and Pharmaceuticals (+27 points) being the main contributors.
Despite a slight decline in volumes from 449 million shares to 393 million shares (a decrease of 13% day-on-day), the average traded value increased by 2.2% to reach US$95 million compared to US$93 million the previous day.
Key stocks that significantly contributed to trading volumes included UNITY, LOTCHEM, KEL, FFL, and MLCF, collectively forming 22% of the total trading volumes.
On the positive front, stocks such as PSO (+41 points), LUCK (+34 points), MCB (+32 points), UBL (+31 points), and DGKC (+17 points) made notable contributions to the market’s upward momentum.
Conversely, stocks such as ENGRO (-18 points), KEL (-4 points), NATF (-4 points), NESTLE (-3 points), and HASCOL (-2 points) contributed negatively to the overall index performance.
The significant surge in the stock market reflects investor confidence and optimism regarding the economic outlook, driven by increased buying activities across multiple sectors.
