The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its recovery on Wednesday, 28 October, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 1,269.55 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 165,736.75. The session was volatile: after early selling pressure, afternoon buying carried the index to an intraday high of 166,100.33.

A second straight gain

The gain marked the second consecutive session of positive performance. On Tuesday, the benchmark had risen by 1,428.73 points, or 0.88 percent, to close at 164,467.20, after opening strongly and climbing more than 1,100 points in the early session.

Banks and fertiliser led the way

Heavyweight stocks drove Wednesday's advance. Fauji Fertilizer Company contributed about 338 points to the index, followed by National Bank of Pakistan with about 185 points, The Hub Power Company with about 158 points, MCB Bank with about 79 points and Bank Alfalah with about 73 points — together roughly 833 points of the day's gain. By sector, commercial banks added about 536 points and fertiliser about 444 points, with automobile assemblers, power generation and cement also in positive territory. Investment banks, technology and oil and gas exploration were among the drags, with Engro Holdings the largest single detractor at about 87 points.

Trading activity strengthened

Overall trading activity strengthened alongside the price action. Total market volume reached about 578 million shares, up from about 402 million in the previous session, with traded value of nearly 26.2 billion rupees. Within the KSE-100 itself, volume was 183.55 million shares, with 63 of the 100 index companies closing up, 34 down and three unchanged. Reporting attributed the firmer sentiment to better-than-expected corporate results and easing international oil prices in the previous session, despite the State Bank of Pakistan's recent 50-basis-point increase in the policy rate. This is market news, not investment advice.

Sources: TechJuice, Mettis Global.