Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Tuesday, as benchmark KSE-100 advanced 90.47 points by the closing bell to close at 44,857.06 index level.

On Tuesday, the market traded in a narrow range after an increase of 2,500 points in the previous two sessions. Leveraged positions continued causing jitters every now and then, which kept activity in tech stocks as well as food sector a bit volatile. However, selling pressure kept the levels down by the end of session as the rising COVID positive ratio triggered profit-taking at higher levels.

During the session, the index oscillated in the negative and positive zones throughout the day looking for a direction, registering its intraday high at 44,910.93 after gaining 144.34 points, while it also touched intra-day low at 44,545.43 after losing 221.16 points.

The volume at KSE-100 receded from 239.46 million shares recorded in the previous session to 168.58 million shares, while the all-share volume also declined from 455.55 million shares recorded in the previous session to 408.46 million shares. Market Capital increased by Rs.4.09 billion, while total value traded also increased by 1.97 Billion to Rs.19.99 billion

The volume chart was led by Unity Foods Limited followed by Telecard Limited and TRG Pakistan Limited. The scrips exchanged 37.24 million, 35.61 million and 28.55 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net buyers of $1.15 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Brokers led the selling chart, and offloaded $3.15 million worth of equities. However, Mutual Funds and Insurance Companies led the buying chart and bought $4.18 million, $1.15 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Technology & Communication with 124 points, Commercial Banks with 61 points, Fertilizer with 42 points, Textile Composite with 23 points and Automobile Assembler with 16 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan Limited which contributed 105 points followed by Habib Bank Limited with 28 points, Engro Fertilizers Limited with 21 points, Meezan Bank Limited with 19 points and Systems Limited with 15 points.

However, sectors which continued to dent the index were Cement with 54 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 28 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 28 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 27 points and Pharmaceuticals with 10 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Hub Power Company Limited which stripped the index of 37 points followed by Pakistan State Oil with 17 points, DG Khan Cement with 14 points, Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited with 12 points and Oil & Gas Development Company Limited with 12 points.