DAILY MARKET WRAP

Bulls regained control of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, with indices remaining in positive territory throughout the session. However, trading volume declined compared to the previous session.

Global equity markets showed mixed trends and crude oil prices dropped; West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.88% to $71.06, and Brent crude declined 0.64% to $74.44 (as of 3:51 PM PST, source: Investing.com).

During the day, the benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 673.10 pts reaching an intraday high of 92,694.54. The index closed the session up by 499.05 pts finishing at 92,520.49. The KMI-30 index saw a significant gain of 661.28 pts ending the day at 140,859.36. Meanwhile, the KSE All-Share index rose by 341.33 pts closing at 58,870.74.

Trading activity declined, with total volume decreasing from 888.84 mn shares in the prior session to 678.64 mn shares. Leading the volume chart were The Bank of Punjab (BOP +5.80%), Kohinoor Spinning Mills Limited (KOSM +7.41%), and K-Electric Limited (KEL +3.45%), trading 62.92 mn, 46.53 mn and 34.72 mn shares, respectively.

The sectors contributing to gains in the KSE-100 index included the Fertilizer sector (+164.56 pts), Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos./ Securities Cos. (+120.34 pts) and Oil and Gas Exploration Companies sector (+111.65 pts). Among the individual companies, Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO +123.71 pts), Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DAWH +123.00 pts) and Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +98.24 pts) led the upward movement.

The Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos./ Securities Cos. Sector gained 3.66% in its market capitalization. Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DAWH +7.58%), PIA Holding Company Limited (PIAHCLA +3.96%), Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. Limited (JSCL +0.86%) and OLP Financial Services Pakistan Limited (OLPL +0.40%) all closed in green.

Values as at 04:15