KARACHI: The stocks closed at all-time high on Friday amid record trades led by auto and cement sectors. The 100-share index gained 147.33 points (0.37%) to close at 40,363.68 points.
Volume surged to over 11-year high of 850 million shares mainly due to activity in side stocks, which was highest since Feb 23, 2005 when 1,086 million shares were traded.
Major activity was observed in second and third tier stocks. Automobile sector led the gains on the back of auto sales numbers released by PAMA, which showed MoM growth of 27% for the month of August 2016. INDU and HCAR were major gainers of the aforementioned sector, as they gained to close on their respective upper circuits.
Investor interest was seen in the chemicals sector on the back of depressed crude oil prices, as it closed (up 2.1%) higher from its previous day close. Volumes increased by 60% to 850m shares while value rose by 45% to Rs16.6b/$159m.
WTL led the volumes with over 114m shares traded. The stock has gained 50% since a public announcement was made at the KSE by World Call Services and Ferret Consulting. Upbeat in sales figures renewed investors’ interest in auto stocks which led INDU, MTL, HINO and HCAR to close at their upper limits of 5%.