Closing Bell: All’s well that ends well

April 18, 2019 (MLN): The domestic equity markets have closed today’s trading session in consolidation and on a positive note as KSE 100 index gained 59 points over yesterday’s closing value, to conclude the day at 36,811 points.

Prior to closing, the index went through a series of ups and downs throughout the length of the day, having touched an intraday low of 36,419 points less than an hour before the closing bells went off when news of Finance Minister Asad Umar’s exit from office broke out.  

Nevertheless, the market participants redeemed themselves on the back of clarification of the TSA introduction which not only helped recover the net loss made so far in the day, but also lifted the index above prior day’s closing value.

The 100 – index witnessed a trade of 151.8 million shares at PKR 4.7 billion today, while 37 companies listed within the index recorded a rise in their share prices.

Today’s best performing sectors were Commercial Banks of which 59.6 million shares were traded, and Power Generation & Distribution companies of which 8.5 million shares were traded. Together, the two sectors contributed around 70 points to the benchmark index.

On the flip side, Cement sector suffered the brunt of losses today as it stripped the index of 47 points.

In particular, the constituents responsible to restore the index were HBL with a 2% rise and FFC with 2.5% rise, in their respective share prices.

Meanwhile, the KSE All Share Index gained 27 points today, marking today’s session end at 26,904 points.

A total of 216.2 million shares were traded within the broader KSE index, at PKR 5.2 billion.

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