RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: A bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange on the back of fresh buying in various sectors.

BRIndex100 gained 36.22 points or 0.91 percent to close at 3,996.06 points on Thursday. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,023.28 and intraday low of 3,951.89 points. Volumes stood at 211.916 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 334.81 points or 1.7 percent to close at 20,033.00 points with a turnover of 162.345 million shares.

The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 334.91 points or 0.89 percent to close at 37,982.25 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on the ready counter increased by 223.400 million shares as compared to 194.167 million shares traded Wednesday.

The market capitalization increased by Rs 66 billion to Rs 7.762 trillion. Out of total 374 active scrips, 275 closed in positive, only 89 in negative while the value of 10 stocks remained unchanged.

Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 24.808 million shares. It gained Re 1.00 to close at Rs 15.22 followed by TRG Pak that increased by Rs 1.06 to close at Rs 23.00 with 14.238 million shares.

Colgate Palmolive and Indus Motor Co were the top gainers with Rs 99.99 and Rs 55.51, respectively to close at Rs 2,499.99 and Rs 1,165.75. Rafhan Maize and Otsuka Pak were the top losers with Rs 99.00 and Rs 13.30, respectively to close at Rs 7,200.00 and Rs 252.75.

BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 8.33 points or 0.1 percent to close at 7,986.91 points with total turnover of 18.534 million shares.

BR Cement Index increased by 89.04 points or 2.35 percent to close at 3,881.76 points with 25.547 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index gained 31.45 points or 0.62 percent to close at 5,091.73 points with 6.169 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,074.11 points, up 15.25 points or 1.44 percent with 19.245 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 19.66 points or 0.35 percent to close at 5,619.57 points with 8.158 million shares.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the KSE-100 index increased further and though did not match Wednesday’s stride, bulls were in firm grip of the market. Steel sector got out of luck triggered by INIL’s result which highlighted attrition in earnings growth and difficulty in selling end products. UBL posted earnings below street estimates, however, the stock fared well on the index and after staying low for a while after the result, it rebounded and turned green.

E&P sector bore pressure during the session, caused by a decline in international oil prices but saw buying activity near close of session. Auto sector posted gains the second consecutive day amid low volumes.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Fertilizer (up 113 points), O&GMCs (up 58 points), Cement (up 54 points), Autos (up 35 points) and Chemical (up 26 points).

Stocks that contributed positively include ENGRO (up 57 points), EFERT (up 36 points), PSO (up 28 points), SNGP (up 22 points) and PPL (up 19 points) while scripts that contributed negatively include BAHL (down 30 points), HBL (down 27 points), POL (down 16 points), ISL (down 14 points) and OGDC (down 11 points).