Oil stocks lead rally on KSE: BRIndex100 edges up

After witnessing a bearish trend during the first two days of the week, Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday closed on a positive note on the back of fresh buying in various sectors. BRIndex100 increased by 37.73 points or 1.14 percent to close at 3,348.36 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 3,350.06 and intraday low of 3,300.26 points. Volumes stood at 64.615 million shares. BRIndex30 gained 186.29 points or 1.1 percent to close at 17,115.03 points with a turnover of 44.964 million shares.
The KSE-100 Index surged by 280.36 points or 0.89 percent to close at 31,938.48 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on the ready counter increased to 70.223 million shares as compared to 51.288 million shares traded Tuesday. The market capitalization increased by Rs 24 billion to Rs 6.384 trillion. Out of total 343 active scrips, 219 closed in positive, 104 in negative while the value of 20 stocks remained unchanged.
Maple Leaf was the volume leader with 7.098 million shares. It gained Re 0.60 to close at Rs 17.54 followed by TRG Pak that inched up by Re 0.28 to close at Rs 12.45 with 5.718 million shares. Nestle Pakistan and Siemens Pak were the top gainers with Rs 145.00 and Rs 20.00, respectively to close at Rs 5,700.00 and Rs 600.00. Pak Tobacco and Shezan International were the top losers with Rs 114.00 and Rs 21.00, respectively to close at Rs 2,186.00 and Rs 414.00. BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 18.35 points or 0.35 percent to close at 5,204.06 points with total turnover of 1.241 million shares.
BR Cement Index inched up by 34.95 points or 1.3 percent to close at 2,718.46 points with 14.481 million shares. BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 21.65 points or 0.28 percent to close at 7,818.63 points with 5.125 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index surged by 42.14 points or 0.97 percent to close at 4,389.80 points with 5.126 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 3,723.63 points, up 59.87 points or 1.63 percent with 4.344 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index gained 6.67 points or 1.01 percent to close at 664.66 points with 9.038 million shares. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed bullish amid higher trades led by select scrips across-the-board on institutional speculation in the earnings season. He said oil stocks outperformed amid surge in global crude prices, OGRA proposal for hike in local POL prices and upbeat data on power generation in FY19 played a catalyst role in bullish close.