KARACHI, June 16(ABC): The increase in petroleum prices and hopes of the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme helped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remain in the green on Thursday.
The stock market started in the red but soon the bulls staged a comeback and held a firm grip during the session.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 41,730.16 points with a gain of 291.37 points or 0.70%.
According to Arif Habib Limited, the PSX continued positive momentum as investors’ confidence was boosted due to the government’s announcement of a further increase in the fuel prices to keep in line with the IMF programme.
The activity remained healthy across the board as the cement sector remained in the limelight due to price increases in the north region.
The sectors contributing to the performance include exploration and production (+63.7 points), power (+55.8 points), cement (+53.7 points), fertiliser (+49.3 points) and oil marketing companies (OMCs) (+35.4 points).
Shares of 336 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 173 scrips closed in the green, 134 in the red, and 29 remained unchanged.
Overall trading volumes rose to 162.17 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 141.70 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.78 billion.
Worldcall Telecom Limited was the volume leader with 21.53 million shares traded, losing Rs0.05 to close at Rs1.42. It was followed by Oilboy Energy with 11.39 million shares traded, gaining Rs1 to close at Rs2.01 and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited with 10.23 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.99 to close at Rs27.73.
