Staff Reporter
Karachi
The stock market rose on Wednesday as buying interest in shares of cement companies once again helped the benchmark index march upwards.
The market remained on the winning streak for the third consecutive session as it was mostly in control of the bulls. However, the KSE-100 index traded in a narrow band.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 109.03 points, or 0.34%, to settle at 32,363.35 points.
Mixed sentiment was seen in financial stocks among which HBL (+4.3%) and UBL (+1.3%) remained in the green zone whereas MCB Bank (-1.1%) and Bank AL Habib (-1.1%) came under pressure.
Once again, the cement sector provided vital support for the bourse where Maple Leaf Cement (+5.4%), DG Khan Cement (+5%), Cherat Cement (+5%) and Pioneer Cement (+5%) closed limit up on market talk that players in the northern region might increase cement prices by Rs15 to Rs20 per bag. In the fertiliser sector, Engro (-0.1%), Fauji Fertiliser Company (-0.4%) and Engro Fertilisers (-1.1%) were in the red.
Oil and gas sector heavyweights came under pressure as Pakistan Oilfields (-1.2%), Pakistan Petroleum (-0.8%) and Oil and Gas Development Company (-1.1%) fell following a decline in international oil prices.
