RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday showed a mixed trend as the investors opted to book profit after fresh buying in select scrips.

The benchmark KSE-100 index hit 51,230.30 points intra-day high and 50,855.97 points intra-day low level during the trade. The index closed at new high of 51,103.53 points, with an increase of 30.39 points. Foreign investors once again remained net sellers of shares worth $0.9 million.

Trading activity remained low as daily trading volumes decreased to 334.725 million shares as compared to 370.231 million shares traded Tuesday. The market capitalization declined by Rs 2 billion to Rs 10.067 trillion. Out of total 375 active scrips, 187 closed in positive, 172 in negative while the value of 16 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 55.412 million shares. It gained Rs 0.52 to close at Rs 3.06 followed by Engro Polymer that lost Rs 0.94 to close at Rs 29.57 with 21.553 million shares. Dewan Cement increased by Rs 1.27 to close at Rs 26.85 with 16.363 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Sapphire Textile were the top gainers with Rs 151.00 and Rs 92.50, respectively to close at Rs 9,600.00 and Rs 2,140.00. Wyeth Pak and Unilever Foods were the top losers with Rs 62.76 and Rs 50.03, respectively to close at Rs 2,318.25 and Rs 6,250.00.

Arhum Ghous at JS Global Capital said that volatility prevailed in the market as the KSE-100 index gained to make an intraday high of 158 points and low of 216 points, closing up 30 points at 51,103 levels. Overall rally was witnessed in the banking sector where big banks boosted the index to close in green as the MSCI-EM rebalancing date approaches. PPL (up 1.04 percent) closed in the green as oil in the international market edged up slightly as the Saudi Arabia announced to cut oil supplies to the region in its latest press release. Moreover, profit taking was witnessed in the cement sector. PIOC (down 2.99 percent), DGKC (down 1.38 percent) and LUCK (down 0.89 percent) were the major laggards of the aforementioned sector.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that stocks closed higher led by second and third-tier autos, banking and cement scrips on strong valuations. Foreign inflows, reports of easing political situation, robust outlook for auto, banking and cement sectors amid MSCI EM status this month played a catalyst role in higher close.