Pakistan equities closed a volatile session on a slightly positive note, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index inched up 0.19%, while volume and value of shares traded also improved on Tuesday.
At close on Tuesday, the KSE-100 finished with a gain of 87.61 points or 0.19% to finish at 45,731.70.
“Investor confidence remains in check over geopolitical conditions and higher commodity prices,” said Topline Securities in its post-market comment.
Oil dropped from a seven-year high to around $94 a barrel on Tuesday, amid a report that some troops in Russia's military districts adjacent to Ukraine are returning to bases, a move that could de-escalate tension between Moscow and the West.
During the session, the market witnessed range-bound activity where the benchmark index made an intra-day high of 159 points and a low of 141 points.
KSE-100 falls nearly 1% on Russia-Ukraine conflict jitters
On the economic front, reports suggested that the federal government could increase the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs12.33 per litre owing to the global hike in crude oil prices and increase petroleum levy (PL) and general sales tax (GST) with effect from February 16
On the corporate front, Avanceon informed the bourse that it has scored the largest commercial infrastructure project under its building technologies banner to date. The undertaking valued at over Rs1 billion will see Avanceon provide supply, installation & supervision and commissioning services of Building Management Systems (BMS) and Extra Low Voltage (ELV) Systems.
Sectors driving the benchmark index upwards included fertiliser (31.27 points), technology and communication (31.12 points) and automobile assembling (18.57 points).
Volume on the all-share index increased to 274.58 million from 187.81 million on Monday. The value of shares traded increased to Rs6.76 billion from Rs5.95 billion recorded in the previous session.
WorldCall Limited was the volume leader with 91.90 million shares, followed by K-Electric Limited with 22.71 million shares, and Telecard Limited with 10.11 million shares.
Shares of 336 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 200 registered an increase, 118 recorded a fall, and 18 remained unchanged.