KARACHI: Stocks closed higher on Monday led by oil companies amid surging global crude prices as well as the rupee’s recovery against the dollar.

Arif Habib Corporation analyst Ahsan Mehanti said the decision by the State Bank of Pakistan to maintain the status quo over the policy rate, upbeat data on cement sales, which rose 37 per cent in August, and expanding banking spreads played the role of a catalyst in the positive close.

The sales desk of the same brokerage mentioned that weekly trade began on a subdued note given that the benchmark index of representative shares remained in a tight range throughout the day.

For upside potential to remain viable, the 46,000-point level has to be taken out and built on as support, it added.

JS Global said investors should be on the lookout for any downsides as opportunities to buy shares in cement, technology and exploration and production sectors.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 45,803.19 points, up 49.67 points or 0.11pc from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 53.5pc to 103.5 million shares. The traded value decreased 70.2pc to Rs3.3 billion on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan Refinery Ltd (7.8m shares), Agritech Ltd (6.3m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (4.9m shares), DG Khan Cement Ltd (4.7m shares) and BankIslami Pakistan Ltd (4.6m shares).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs24.98), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs18.60), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs18.40), Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs18) and Towellers Ltd (Rs11.83).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs43.53), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs22.50), Atlas Honda Ltd (Rs19.50), Lucky Core Industries Ltd (Rs15.50) and Baluchistan Wheels Ltd (Rs10.95).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.61m.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2023