KARACHI: The stock market sustained on Tuesday its upward trajectory, which was underpinned by heavy volumes.

The KSE-100 index pierced through the 43,000-point level to gain 412 points (0.96 per cent) and settle at 43,253.

The relief rally has so far added 2,567 points from its intraday low posted on Sept 7.

The session remained volatile with institutional profit-taking going on for the most part of the day. Bulls barged in just 90 minutes before the close of the session, helping the index recover losses and close on sizeable gains.

The volume jumped 93pc to 219 million shares from a day ago. The traded value rose 50.3pc to Rs11.3bn. Dost Steels was the volume leader.

Major contribution to the index upside came from Fauji Fertiliser, which rose 4.99pc, Dawood Hercules 3.33pc, Pakistan State Oil 2.28pc, Engro Fertilisers 2.79pc and International Steels 4.28pc, adding 143 points. Habib Bank went down 0.33pc, Colgate Palmolive 4.18pc and Abbott Laboratories 2.56pc, taking away 27 points, according to Intermarket Securities.

“Fertilisers carried momentum and led gains on buying interest from foreign and local investors... textiles too caught the attention on positive morning news of the United Kingdom supporting the continuity of the GSP+ status for Pakistan,” commented analysts at Elixir Securities.

Packages Ltd ended its trading session with a gain of Rs4.63 per share as it completed the acquisition of 35pc shareholding in Bulleh Shah Packaging Ltd. “Among sugar scrips, Mehran Sugar Mills, Faran Sugar Mills and Habib Sugar Mills remained in the limelight and closed in the green. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority awarded the wholly owned subsidiaries of these companies the upfront tariff for the bagasse-based co-generation power project,” said stock analyst Anjlee Rawlani at Aba Ali Habib Securities.

Analysts at JS Global observed that the exploration and production sector closed in the green as crude oil prices rose back to their five-month high. Pakistan Petroleum and Oil and Gas Development Company rose 0.58pc and 0.16pc, respectively.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2017