Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to witness recovery for the second consecutive session as benchmark KSE-100 gained 978.51 points by the closing bell and crossd 44,000 mark to close at 44,766.59 index level.

Monday’s robust performance was witnessed owing to market’s excitement after Pakistan’s ruling party candidate was re-elected as Senate chairman on Friday in a narrow margin. The government’s victory in the Senate cemented government’s position and indicated towards its continuity, which gave a sense of stability to the wary investors. Buying was witnessed across the board, mainly in cement, steel and tech sectors,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.

But, senior vice President, BMA Capital management Irfan Saeed, said that 45,000 index level is seemingly a resistance level, and profit taking can be observed around it.

During the session, the index remained in the green throughout the day, touching its intraday high at 44,839.19 after accumulating 1,051.11 points.

The volume at KSE-100 surged from 169.8 million shares recorded in the previous session to 239.46 million shares, while the all-share volumealso slightly rose from 442.56 million shares recorded in theprevious session to 455.55 million shares. Market Capital increased by Rs.164.65 billion, while total value traded also increased by increased by 0.37 billion to Rs.21.96 billion

The volume chart was led TRG Pakistan Limited, Unity Foods Limited and Fauji Cement Company Limited. The scrips exchanged 24.90 million, 23.64 million and 21.09 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net buyers of worth $3.14 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Mutual Funds and Insurance Companies led the buying chart, and moped up $6.4 million and $2.2 million worth of equities. However, Banks and Companies led the selling chart and off-loaded $8.37 million, $4.7 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Cement with 171 points, Technology & Communication with 152 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 101 points, Commercial Banks with 92 points and Power Generation & Distribution with 79 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan which contributed 97 points followed by Pakistan State Oil with 71 points, Lucky Cement with 58 points, Systems Limited with 54 points and Hub Power Company Limited with 47 points.

However, sectors which continued to dent the index were Paper & Board with 4 points, Close – End Mutual Fund with 4 points, Tobacco with 3 points and Vanaspati & Allied Industries with 1 point. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 12 points followed by Muslim Commercial Bank with 5 points, Packages Limited with 4 points, Murree Brewery Company Limited with 4 points and HBL Growth Fund with 4 points.