KARACHI: The KSE-100 index extended its overnight gains on Tuesday with the benchmark staying within the green zone throughout the day.

Investors’ participation in the stock market stayed healthy, thanks to a notable decline in international oil prices, according to Arif Habib Ltd. The price of Brent dropped more than 4.5 per cent, producing a sense of optimism among stock investors.

The cement sector was once again in the limelight owing to a reduction in international coal prices. JS Global said investors should take advantage of any downside by buying shares in technology and cement sectors.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 44,438.70 points, up 505.14 points or 1.15pc from a day ago.

The trading volume increased 102.7pc to 268.9 million shares while the traded value went up 49.4pc to $39.3m on a day-on-day basis.

Sectors that contributed the highest number of points to the benchmark index included cement (88.42 points), power generation and distribution (69.98 points), oil and gas marketing (44.94 points), oil and gas exploration (39.05 points) and auto assembling (35.86 points).

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pak Elektron Ltd (37.67m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (27.12m shares), Ghani Global Holdings Ltd (15m shares), K-Electric Ltd (11.1m shares) and TPL properties Ltd (11.1m shares).

Shares contributing positively to the index included The Hub Power Company Ltd (51.99 points), Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (34.6 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (23.14 points), Millat Tractors Ltd (22.54 points) and Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (23.72 points).

Stocks that took away the maximum number of points from the index included Bank AL Habib Ltd (13.76 points), Allied Bank Ltd (8.03 points), Habib Bank Ltd (7.8 points), Indus Motor Company Ltd (6.32 points) and Murree Brewery Company Ltd (2.31 points).

In percentage terms, biggest price increases were posted by Pak Elektron Ltd (7.18pc), Punjab Oil Mills Ltd (6.62pc), Aisha Steel Mills Ltd (5.4pc), Jahangir Siddiqui and Company Ltd (4.77pc) and Packages Ltd (4.59pc).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $2.38m.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2022