KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday closed on slightly positive note due to fresh buying by local investors in some stocks, however trading volumes remained very low.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 46,448.34 points intraday high and 46,238.12 points intraday low, before closing at 46,365.04 points, up 87.38 points or 0.19 percent.

Trading activity remained very low as total daily volumes on ready counter declined to 177.497 million shares as compared to 259.046 million shares traded on Tuesday. The daily traded value on ready counter increased to Rs 6.928 billion against previous session’s Rs 6.688 billion.

BRIndex100 inched up by 8.68 points or 0.19 percent to close at 4,652.93 points with total daily turnover of 154.324 million shares.

BRIndex30 added 100.76 points or 0.61 percent to close at 16,645.81 points with total daily trading volumes of 100.238 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $343,763. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 26 billion to Rs 6.925 trillion. Out of total 325 active scrips, 172 closed in positive and 124 in negative while the value of 29 stocks remained unchanged.

Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 11.085 billion shares and gained Rs 0.70 to close at Rs 30.18 followed by PPL that increased by Rs 1.50 to close at Rs 74.47 with 9.115 million shares. WorldCall Telecom closed at Rs 1.14, down Rs 0.01 with 7.096 million shares.

Unilever Foods and Pak Hotels were the top gainers increasing by Rs 450.00 and Rs 15.45 respectively to close at Rs 20550.00 and Rs 251.99 while Nestle Pakistan and Pak Services were the top losers declining by Rs 47.21 and Rs 29.85 respectively to close at Rs 7142.79 and Rs 701.15.

“For the third consecutive day, the Pakistan market exhibited a sideways trading pattern, as investors patiently awaited a clear market direction due to the absence of significant catalysts,” an analyst at Topline Securities said.

Major positive contribution to the index came from, OGDC, PPL, FFC, PSO and EFERT as they cumulatively contributed plus 114 points to the index, whereas SYS, HBL and UBL lost value to weigh down on the index by minus 101 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 8,739.39 points, down 0.11 points with total turnover of 8.849 million shares.

BR Cement Index increased by 47.6 points or 1.0 percent to close at 4,811.43 points with 22.089 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 50.19 points or 0.46 percent to close at 10,746.23 points with 22.440 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 42.99 points or 0.46 percent to close at 9,377.61 points with 8.193 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index surged by 52.87 points or 1.22 percent to close at 4,379.98 points with 27.506 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index fell by 29.2 points or 0.8 percent to close at 3,643.43 points with 18.026 million shares.

An analyst at Darson Securities Limited said that the local equities claw backed as benchmark KSE-100 Index conclude the session at 46,365.04 levels plus 87.38 points after preceding session’s slide. Earlier, The KSE-100 Index opened negative in the morning and dived 39.54 points in intraday trading amid brief bouts of buying on dips. The benchmark index hit the intra-day low at 46,238.12 levels, but soon after it managed to recover as investors chose to buy stocks at attractive valuations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

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