Karachi, March 31, 2020: Market opened on a positive note today with 62 points and did not see back since then. The ascent continued till 1311 points in the benchmark index and closed the session +1242 points (unadjusted).
The overriding factor that helped investors take a positive view on the market seems to be weakening selling pressure from Foreign Investors as well as the recent announcements on tax relief by the Government that include select relief on account of custom duty, additional duties and GST.
Also the prospect of end of lock down, as April begins, boosted investor confidence to take a positive view on equities. Cement sector led the volumes with 51.8 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (31.5 million) and Power (23.4 million). Among scrips, HASCOL posted trading volumes of 25.8 million shares, followed by MLCF (19 million) and KEL (16.7 million).
The Index closed at 29,231 points as against 28,023pts showing an increase of 1208 points (+4.3 percent DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+339 points), Fertilizer (+161 points), E&P (+125 points), Power (+117 points) Cement (+109 points).
Volumes increased from 159.5 million shares to 221.8 million shares (+39 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 74 percent to reach US$ 44.1 million as against US$ 25.3 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, MLCF, KEL, OGDC and UNITY, which formed 39 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include ENGRO (+90 points), HUBC (+84 points), MCB (+78 points), UBL (+76 points) and HBL (+55 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MUREB (-3 points), DCR (-2 points), IDYM (-2 points), JLICL (-1 points), and JDWS (-1 points).
