Stocks regain control to close at 41,768 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday reacted strongly over the news that former president General retired Pervez Musharraf was sentenced to death in the high treason case.

The KSE-100 index shed over 500 points in the first session of intra-day trading before it regained control. The bourse witnessed an overall increase of 123.78 points (0.3%) and closed at 41,768.66 points.

The market reached a high point of 42,056.14 before it tumbled over the political development. The indices reached a lowest point of 41,025.72 points before market was suspended. The total volume of scripts was 253.8 million worth Rs14.529 billion.

Meanwhile, the KSE 30 index closed at 19,086.33 after witnessing an overall increase of 117.33 (0.62%). The bourse has seen an increase of 11.14% during the current year. The total volume of scripts was 132.5 million.

Many of the leading stocks also took a battery. The top active stocks were Fauji Foods (5.52%), HASCOL (-5.86%), Unity Foods (-1.72%), JSCL (0.31%), TRG (2.36%) followed by K-Electric (-2.22%) and SSGC (1.60%).

The top advancers were Capital Assets (17.01%), Reliance Insurance (13.80%), UCAPM (12.86%), OML (8.97%), Thatta Cement (8.93%), and Dandot Cement (8.61%).

It has remained a favourable week as stock gained momentum yesterday as the KSE 100 index passed the 41,000 level and settled a thirteen month high of 41,644.88 points. There was an impressive gain of 728.29 points (1.78%) as the market capitalization crossed Rs8 trillion.

Bulls dominated the marker on Monday due to the continued improvement in market indicators. There was high investment in energy companies and carried forward by mutual funds and equities. Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Reza Baqir has said the economy is expected to grow by 3.50 percent in the current fiscal year.