Stocks stage rally as KSE-100 gains 242 points

The KSE-100 witnessed a rally on Wednesday, as the index finished with a gain of 242 points with volumes also inching up day-on-day.

Registering an increase of nearly 500 points, the benchmark index recorded an intra-day high of 47,627.59. Profit-booking erased some of the advances, but the index still finished with an increase of 0.51% or 241.9 points to finish at 47,377.38.

Investor interest was mostly seen in the technology sector where TRG and SYS were the major gainers.

“On the results front, EPCL announced its 2Q2021 EPS at Rs3.4,-25% QoQ. Earnings were lower than industry expectations, however, it declared a higher than expected payout of DPS of Rs7 as the stock closed +3.5%.

"Further, MCB announced 2Q2021 EPS at Rs6.6 {+16%YoY, 12% QoQ). Earnings remained better than industry expectations with 2Q2021 DPS of Rs5.0.

"POL also announced its 4QFY21 EPS at Rs13.41 (up 57% YoY and 30% QoQ). Earnings were in line with industry expectations along with 4QFY21DPS of Rs30 which was higher than industry expectations as the stock closed 1% higher,” said Topline Securities in its post-market comment.

KSE-100 inches up slightly amid range bound trading

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 upwards included technology and communication (86.17 points), power generation and distribution (26.14 points), and fertiliser (24.14 points).

Volume on the all-share index increased from 370.03 million on Tuesday to 382.64 million on Wednesday. The value of shares traded during the session improved significantly to Rs15.71 billion, from Rs12.09 billion on Tuesday.

Ghani Global Holdings remained the volume leader with 27.60 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom Ltd with 26.70 million shares, and Engro Polymer at 25.98 million shares.

Shares of 472 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 222 registered an increase, 223 recorded a fall, while 27 remained unchanged.