Stocks on Thursday gained under half-a-percent in a lacklustre trade with no substantial positive triggers in sight, while tempting bargains continued to keep investors interested in selected shares, dealers said.
Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed bullish amid higher trades in the earnings session rally at the apex bourse, led by cement and banking scrips after government statements defending China-Pakistan Economic Corridor partnerships.
“Oil sector remained under pressure on concerns for pending circular debt and weak global crude prices, while reports of a rise in local urea prices and upbeat data on cement sales helped build a bullish close,” Mehanti added.
Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index gained 0.45 percent or 192.09 points to close at 42,923.95 points, whereas its KSE-30 shares index stepped up 0.45 percent or 95.23 points to end at 21,228.77 points.
Of 402 active scrips, 242 advanced, 141 declined, and 19 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 206.167 billion shares as compared with the turnover of 191.469 billion shares in the previous session.
Shumalia Badar, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities said the market ended up driven by the Dawood Hercules Group and cements.
“Textiles performed well on the news that the upcoming government is planning on introducing a textile package to give relief to the sector,” Badar said.
She added that there were no important earnings announcements, with the exception of Allied Bank, which managed to beat the market consensus.
“We expect the market to be mixed in the coming session”, she said.
Shares belonging to cement, steel and chemical sectors were in the limelight where gas companies also were also in the buying chart.
Murtaza Jaffar from Elixir Securities said sideways activity was witnessed throughout the session as the market consolidated in a narrow range; however, late buying in select blue chips pushed the Index higher.
Cements regained momentum with Lucky Cement closing up by 2.58 percent and DG Khan Cement gaining 2.95 percent, while Maple Leaf Cement, up 4.99 percent, and Attock Cement, up 5 percent, traded at their upper price limits.
Companies reflecting highest gains included Bata Pakistan, up Rs59.89.00 to close at Rs1899.89/share, and Sitara Chemical, up Rs17.82 to close at Rs374.22/share. The major losers were Pakistan Tobacco, down Rs95.00 to end at Rs2155.00/share, and Colgate Palmolive, down Rs43.04 to close at Rs3008.01/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in Pakistan Elektron with a turnover of 12.237 million shares. The scrip gained Rs1.08 to close at Rs42.09/share. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with a turnover of 9.046 million shares.
The scrip gained 9 paisas to close at Rs14.15/share. Engro Polymer witnessed the lowest volumes with a turnover of 7.353 million shares. Its scrip lost Rs0.7 to close at Rs34.16/share.
