BRIndex100 maintains uptrend

A bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange Friday. Equities moved up following a healthy buying in various scrips. BRIndex100 gained 28.36 points or 0.61 percent to close at 4,713.65 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,717.52 and intraday low of 4,669.75 points. Volumes stood at 192.035 million shares. BRIndex30 increased by 119.61 points or 0.49 percent to 24,502.55 points with a turnover of 146.635 million shares.
The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 230.10 points to 43,740.49 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes increased to 229.930 million shares as compared to 211.946 million shares traded Thursday. The market capitalization increased by Rs 65 billion to Rs 9.110 trillion. Out of total 371 active scrips, 202 closed in positive, 153 in negative while the value of 16 stocks remained unchanged.
Dost Steel was the volume leader with 19.085 million shares. However, it lost Re 0.31 to close at Rs 12.70 followed by TRG Pak that gained Re 0.61 to close at Rs 37.42 with 15.150 million shares. Nestle Pakistan and Rafhan Maize were the top gainers with Rs 595.00 and Rs 355.00, respectively to close at Rs 12,495.00 and Rs 7,455.00. Bata Pak and Colgate Palmolive were the top losers with Rs 104.95 and Rs 100.00, respectively to close at Rs 2,655.05 and Rs 2,900.00.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 39.11 points or 0.45 percent to close at 8,819.75 points with total turnover of 9.971 million shares. BR Cement Index increased by 157.22 points or 2.72 percent to close at 5,947.52 points with 25.852 million shares. BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 5,170.16 points, up 5.24 points or 0.1 percent with 6.421 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index inched up by 12.87 points or 1.06 percent to close at 1,226.80 points with 21.909 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 11.02 points or 0.17 percent to close at 6,445.31 points with 10.982 million shares. An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the bourse saw an uptrend in both volumes and index points, though the investors seem confused with the divergence of fundamentals. Steel sector showed healthy volumes amidst negative price performance due to the news of Trump imposing tariff on Steel and Aluminum, next week. Selling pressure in PAEL seems to have subsided and investors are again taking interest in building positions. BYCO which scored well on fundamentals saw significant selling pressure at the end of session, which went against investors'' expectations. It is anticipated to recover in the coming week.
Despite selling pressure in HBL and UBL, the market was positive, due to positive sentiments in Cement, Fertilizer and Auto sectors. End of session saw positive price movements in Banks as well, which helped the index to close at 43,740 points, showing an upside of 230 points or 0.5 percent. Sectors contributing to the activity include Cement (up 125 points), Fertilizer (up 38 points) and Commercial Banks (up 35 points).
Scripts that contributed positively include LUCK (up 36 points), HBL (up 28 points), NESTLE (up 28 points), OGDC (up 21 points) and FCCL (up 21 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PAEL (down 12 points), COLG (down 10 points), POL (down 9 points), MCB (down 8 points) and MARI (down 7 points).