KARACHI: The stocks have gained 213 points on Thursday owing to drop in coal prices, which helped the cement sector to lead in today’s trading.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 44,586 points as against previous day’s closing of 44,373 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the drop in coal prices primarily reversed the selling tide in the Cement sector today, which led the index from the front.
Similarly, the overnight dent in international oil prices caused downward pressure in E&P stocks.
The positive stride in the index also propelled Steel sector scrips and investors considered taking positions.
Overall, the Index added a total of 574 points during the session and closed +213 points.
Cement sector stole the limelight, with MLCF garnering the most volume (besides hitting upper circuit) among Cement sector stocks, followed by DGKC. Selling pressure ensued, which brought the stock price of MLCF down from upper circuit by the end of session.
Besides Cement, Banks and Refinery sector stocks got investors’ preference. Among scrips, WTL led the volumes with 57.5 million shares, followed by TELE (36.9 million) and TREET (12.8 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+101 points), Banks (+65 points), Technology (+36 points), Textile (+23 points) and Chemical (-21 points).
Volumes increased from 252.7 million shares to 296 million shares (+17 per cent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 4 per cent to reach US$ 61.2 million as against US$ 59 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TELE, TREET, UNITY and JSCL, which formed 44 per cent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include TRG (+40 points), CHCC (+26 points), HBL (+23 points), MLCF (+22 points) and KTML (+20 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include COLG (-17 points), ENGRO (-11 points), POL (-10 points), LUCK (-10 points) and EPCL (-8 points).
