Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile trading session on the last trading session of the week, as benchmark kse-100 gained 177.22 points by the closing bell to clock at 44,901 index level.

On Friday, the market opened on a negative note but bounced back strongly in the latter half, with refinery, cement, steel, oil & gas marketing stocks witnessing buying activity. The anticipation of SBP’s monetary policy, which was announced after the conclusion of the session, had little effect on investor sentiment.

The State Bank of Pakistan has decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 7% with a view to support economic recovery. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday, following which a detailed statement was issued by the central bank. The committee noted that the “current stance of monetary policy remains appropriate to support economic recovery while keeping inflation expectations well-anchored and maintaining financial stability”.

The Index traded in a range of 777.49 points or 1.74 percent of the previous close. The benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded its intraday low at 44,393.28 after losing 330.81 points and high at 45,172.33 after gaining 448.24 points.

The volume at Kse-100 receded from 300 million shares recorded in the previous session to nearly 289 million shares, while the all-share volume also reduced from 554 million shares recorded in the previous session to484 million shares.

Market Capital decreased by Rs.2.07 Billion, while total value traded decreased by 1.87 Billion to Rs.21.83 Billion

The volume chart was led by Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited, followed by K-Electric Limited and TRG Pakistan Limited. The scrips exchanged 101.38 million, 38.24 million and 30.60 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net sellers of worth $0.96 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Companies and Banks led the selling chart, and offloaded $1.3 million and $0.78 million worth of equities. However Brokers led the buying chart and moped up $2.81 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Generation & Distribution with 51 points, Technology & Communication with 44 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 44 points, Refinery with 28 points and Pharmaceuticals with 23 points. Among the scrips the most points added to the index was by Habib Bank Limited which contributed 62 points followed by Pakistan State Oil with 33 points, TRG Pakistan with 26 points, Hub Power Company Limited C with 23 points and Systems Limited with 18 points.

However, sectors which continued to dent the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 45 points, Automobile Assembler with 23 points, Fertilizer with 15 points, Tobacco with 3 points and Real Estate Investment Trust with 2 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Oil & Gas Development Company Limited which stripped the index of 28 points followed by United Bank Limited with 25 points, Indus Motors with 20 points, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 17 points and Bank Al Habib Limited with 14 points.