Index gains 57 points in range-bound session
KARACHI: The stock market remained volatile throughout the session on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 index inching up 57.40 points (0.14 per cent) to close at 41,544.27.
The longest rally since Dec 1-20, 2016, has witnessed the addition of 3,624 points to the benchmark in the last 10 sessions.
Investors appeared to believe that the market was overbought, which led to profit-taking within the first hour. The market traded range-bound thereafter.
Several market watchers suggested that investors were peeved about Washington suspending $255 million in military aid to Pakistan. Therefore, there was a growing unease about US-Pakistan relations going forward. Yet some market players believed that the bulls were just taking a breather.
Arif Habib Ltd stated that institutional investors with high cash positions started increasing their equity positions post-December closing, especially in cement, banks and fertiliser sectors. This was aided by low valuations, inflationary expectations and volumetric increase, respectively.