Equities close on positive note

Pakistan Stock Exchange closed on positive note on the last trading day before long Eid holidays on the back of selective buying by both local and foreign investors. BRIndex100 gained 22.69 points or 0.49 percent to close at 4,685.09 points on Thursday. During the session, the BRIndex-100 touched an intraday high of 4,689.42 and an intraday low of 4,654.85 points. Total volumes stood at 91.45 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 76.69 points or 0.33 percent to close at 23,139.02 points with total turnover of 65.196 million shares. Pakistan's benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 173.18 points or 0.40 percent and closed at 43,680.68 points. Daily trading volumes on ready counter slightly increased to 117.539 million shares as compared to 111.897 million shares traded on Wednesday.
The foreign investors emerged net buyers of shares worth $1.2 million. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 39 billion to Rs 8.977 trillion. Out of total 323 active scrips, 186 closed in positive and 120 in negative while the value of 17 stocks remained unchanged.
Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 15.725 million shares and gained Rs 0.17 to close at Rs 13.32 followed by Summit Bank that lost Rs 0.14 to close at Rs 2.22 with 5.152 million shares. Colgate Palmolive and Sapphire Textile were the top gainers increasing by Rs 166.14 and Rs 51.68 respectively to close at Rs 3489.20 and Rs 1090.46 while Rafhan Maize and Atlas Honda Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 198.00 and Rs 20.49 respectively to close at Rs 7800.00 and Rs 559.50.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 8.85 points or 0.1 percent to close at 9,027.76 points with total turnover of 39.224 million shares. BR Cement Index inched up by 12.67 points or 0.26 percent to close at 4,922.81 points with 8.069 million shares. BR Oil and Gas Index increased by 57.48 points or 1.04 percent to close at 5,598.26 points with 7.788 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,180.41 points, up 11.15 points or 0.95 percent with 10.430 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index surged by 26.05 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,140.90 points with 3.745 million shares.
Danish Ladhani at JS Global Capital said that Pakistan equities closed the week on a positive note to settle benchmark KSE-100 index up at 43,681 levels, making an intraday high of plus 224 points and a low of minus 48 points, respectively. Market opened positive and traded sideward throughout the day, however gained some points towards the close after institution interest. The bourse will be closed from Friday till Monday for Eid-ul-Fitr. Cements and Energy stocks shored up the index whereas Financials remained in the red. HBL (down 1.25 percent), UBL (down 0.38 percent) and MCB (down 0.77 percent) were the major laggards in financials. Moreover, major heavyweights namely, OGDC (up 0.91 percent), PPL (up 1.81 percent), ENGRO (up 1.43 percent), POL (up 1.17 percent) and HUBC (up 0.70 percent) cumulatively contributed plus 113 points.