KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange Monday started week on positive note and crossed the psychological barrier of 50,000 as the benchmark 100-index gained massive 403 points to take the tally to 50111.67 points level.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 50204.38 points and lowest level of 49588.92 points, with the volume of over 132.42 million shares and value of Rs22.20 billion. As many as 388 companies were active; of which 222 advanced, 154 declined and 12 remained unchanged.
Power Cement Ltd was the volume leader with 35.83 million shares, adding Rs 0.93 to finish at Rs 20.64. It was followed by Aisha Steel Mill with 28.39 million shares, adding Rs 1.25 to end at Rs 26.69 and Azgard Nine with 26.75 million shares, shedding Rs 0.01 to close at Rs 13.12.
The top three gainers were Rafhan Maize with price per share of 7200 (200), Indus Motor Co with price per share of 1840.84 (82.99) and Sapphire Tex share of 1314.98 (62.61).
The top three losers were Jubile Life Ins with price per share of 691.10 (-33.90), Sitara Chemical with price per share of 522.01 (-20.99) and Khyber Tobacco per share of 850.70 (-19.31).
Earlier, the stocks started new week on negative note and shed 78.19 points to reach 49630.46 points level in early trading. The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) became positive again till midday and added 233 points to reach 49941 points level.
On Friday, the PSX maintained previous day’s momentum, as it gained 965 points to close at 49,709 points. The index rallied 2,105 points in two sessions.
INIL in the steel sector gained to close on its upper circuit as the steel company declared its result for 9MFY17 in which it posted robust earnings of Rs9.59/share, up 146% YoY. KAPCO (rose 1.38%) in the power sector garnered investor interest, as the IPP posted better than expected earnings of Rs7.68/share in its 9MFY17 result announcement.
Volumes were led by Engro Polymer with 37.6 million shares traded, TRG Pak Ltd with 32.4 million shares traded and Azgard Nine with 18 million shares traded. Market participation eased from yesterday given the Friday factor; traded volume declined by 3% to 396 million, while value fell by 6% to Rs24.1 billion.