KARACHI: Bulls stor­m­ed the stock market at the sound of the opening bell and remained in control throughout the session. The KSE-100 index clocked in gains of 266 points (0.65 per cent) and closed at 41,377.

The market capitalisation surged by Rs43 billion and was flushed with liquidity; economic numbers are looking up while Covid-19 new cases have defied the worst fears of a breakout. Alth­ough the recent torrential rains and flooding have caused some disruptions in industrial and trading activity, investors believe that in time the wounds would heal.

On Tuesday, the index soared to intraday high by 291 points, though for a few moment midday, it did sink to intraday low in the red by 14 points. Foreign investors sold shares worth $1.69 million while mutual funds and ‘’brokers proprietary trading account’’ wiped out much of the liquidity.

The volume jumped 68pc to 759m shares, from 452m shares traded the previous day while traded value also increased by 33pc to $130.6m, from $98m. Stocks that contributed significantly included Unity R2, Pak Elektron, Unity Foods, Hascol Petroleum and Power1, which formed 36pc of total turnover.

Analysts at Arif Habib Ltd calculated that sectors contributing substantial points to the index were cement, higher by 52 points, power 46 points, technology 45 points, chemical 38 points and textile 26 points.

Cement remained investors’ favourite with Pioneer, Cherat DG Khan and Maple Leaf being major gainers. Steel stocks also remained strong with additions noted in Ittefaq, Amreli, Intern­ational and Aisha. Refin­eries for the second day were all green led by Pak­istan, Attock and National. Chemical sector also saw strong performance from Lotte and Engro Polymer while DOL and SPL producers of hydrogen peroxide rose to close at their respective upper circuits.

Scrip-wise gains to the index came from TRG, Colgate Palmolive, Mari Petroleum, Packages Ltd and Kot Addu Power.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2020