Staff Reporter
Karachi
The benchmark KSE-100 index staged a smart recovery on Wednesday after plunging nearly 1,200 points since last Friday.
The index shot up at the beginning of trading, however, investors started booking profits soon afterwards and most of the gains were eroded by noon.
Nevertheless, optimism helped the bourse end the day with modest gains.
Index-heavy sectors including exploration and production, cement, banking and refinery attracted modest investment and helped the market rise past 43,000 points once again.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 180.76 points, or 0.42%, to settle at 43,087.70 points.
Sectors contributing to the performance included cement (+81 points), auto (+19 points), engineering (+18 points), banking (+17 points) and insurance (+17 points).
Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included Maple Leaf Cement (+21 points), HBL (+20 points), Lucky Cement (+18 points), Engro (+18 points) and Cherat Cement (+13 points).
Stocks that contributed negatively were Mari Petroleum (-17 points), Kohinoor Textile Mills (-10 points), Pakistan Oilfields (-10 points), Fauji Fertiliser (-10 points) and Meezan Bank (-9 points).
