KARACHI
Stocks closed higher led by second and third tier scrips on speculations in the earning announcement session. The PDX bench mark shares index on Monday posted gain of 227.24 points (up 0.70%) to close at 32706.22 points.
Institutional support in selected cement, banking sector scrips on strong financial results, upbeat local cement dispatches data for Jul-Jan’16 and likely release of $500m IMF tranche played a catalyst role in bullish activity at PSX despite weak global equities and plunge in crude oil prices below $30/barrel and political noise over government privatization initiatives, observed analyst at Ahsan Mehanti Arif Habib Corp.
Traded volume increased by 0.66% to 152 mn shares, while traded value decreased 7.44% to Rs8.7bn.
On attractive valuation, Investors took positions in Pharma stocks to close in green with ABOT, FEROZ, and SEARLE closing up at 1.79%, 0.79% & 4.69% respectively.
Benchmark Index closed 227 points/0.69% up to close at 32,706 index level.
EFERT announced earnings of 11.28/share with final cash dividend of Rs 3 which was in line with expectation. EFERT closed flat, stated dealers at sales desk Topline brokerage.
Out of total 329 active companies participated in the session, 167 closed in advance, 142 in decline while 20 went unchanged.