LAHORE - Bulls returned to Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE 100-share index, which made an intra-day high of 361 points and a low of -12 points, closed up 279 points at 43,508 points.

Financials and energy stocks shored up the index whereas cements remained in the red. Moreover, major heavyweights namely HBL (+0.7 percent), OGDC (+0.8 percent), UBL (+0.9 percent), ENGRO (+0.5 percent), MCB (+0.4 percent), POL (+0.9 percent) and FFC (+1.5 percent) cumulatively contributed +101 points. Traded volumes plummeted by 19 percent DoD to 112m shares while value traded decreased to $47m.

Top volume stocks were BOP (+2.3 percent), MEBL (+5.0 percent) and KEL (-1.9 percent). PAMA released auto sales data, witnessing 5 percent YoY growth in May-2018, while 11MFY18 sales jumped by 21 percent YoY. GHNL (+5.0 percent) closed at its upper circuit, while PSMC (+1.6 percent) and INDU (+0.6 percent) closed positive as well. Moreover, NTC has imposed definitive antidumping duties on color coated coils in the rage of 5.36 percent to 14.24 percent against dumped import from China & South Africa. ISL (+4.4 percent) and ASL (+6.4 percent) closed positive in the steels. In the financials, HBL (+0.7 percent), UBL (+0.9 percent) and MCB (+0.4 percent) closed in the green zone.

Moving forward, it is expected that market will remain volatile and choppy with flows from local and foreign institutions directing the market.