Stock market gains 613 points amid mixed trading

Stock market gains 613 points amid mixed trading

KARACHI: The stock market gained 613 points on Monday amid mixed trading activities during the day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 39,872 points as against 39,258 points showing an increase of 613 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a positive note with +131 points and added a total of 670 points on the board to almost touch 40K level. The index also realized highest value traded of Rs 26 billion, which was last observed in 2017.

While E&P stocks saw selling pressure, Cement and banking sectors took the lead and carried the momentum. Release of inflation data caused some selling pressure, however, the same improved prospects for banking sector stocks, which are still trading at relatively low level compared with listed manufacturing sector stocks.

Cement sector garnered 125.5 million shares in trading volumes, followed by Technology (51.8 million) and Engineering (45.5 million). Among scrips, MLCF topped the volumes with 34.9 million, followed by POWER (32.5 million) and TRG (29.9 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+169 points), Cement (+126 points), Fertilizer (+39 points), O&GMCs (+37 points) and Pharma (+34 points).

Volumes increased again from 368.7 million shares to 539.3 million shares (+46 percent DoD). Average trade value also increased by 51 percent to reach US$ 154.2 million as against US$ 102.3 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF< POWER, TRG, PAEL and KEL, which formed 27 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HBL (+83 points), LUCK (+54 points), TRG (+35 points), ENGRO (+29 points) and UBL (+25 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MARI (-14 points), PPL (-13 points), POL (-6 points), OGDC (-5 points), and MEBL (-5 points).