KARACHI - Pakistan Stock Exchange showed massive recovery on Thursday as investor praise PM Nawaz UN address reasserting strategic stability and deterrence in the region, easing Indo-Pak escalation fears, dealers said. The PSX index rallied by 363.89 points (0.91%) and closed at 40,135.31 points.
Positivity prevailed in the market as the index, after previous day’s bearish session, gained 364 points to once again cross the psychological level of 40,000 points, dealers said. Banking sector led the gains in the market, as the sector closed (up 1.47%) higher from its previous day close. HBL (up 1.97%) and MCB (0.48%) were top performers of the aforementioned sector.
Automobile sector gained on the back of decline in Yen prices. HCAR (up 2.04%) and PSMC (2.01%) were major gainers of the aforementioned sector. OGDC (up 1.68%), POL (1.02%) and PPL (0.31%) in the E&P sector gained on the back of surge in crude oil prices, as Saudi Arabia and Iran along with another OPEC member Qatar met at OPEC`s headquarters in Vienna to prepare for informal talks between OPEC members and Russia next week. ASC (up 1.14%) gained as the company posted growth in its earnings for its FY16 result. In its result, company posted EPS of Rs2.95/share versus 2.19/share SPLY; this earning was accompanied by 15% stock bonus, observed analyst Nabeel Haroon Volumes declined by 5% to 659m shares while value declined by 10.5% to Rs17.0b/$163m. HBL and OGDC contributed 82 points to the gain in index while PACE led the volumes with 54m shares traded.
Oil stocks were up on the back of gain in international crude. POL and OGDC gained between 1.1%-1.9% respectively, brokers said.