KARACHI-Led by cement, oil and textile scrips, Pakistan Stock Exchange Monday index rallied by 64.78 points to close at 39,253.25 points.
Volatility prevailed in the market as the index, after hitting an intra-day high of 81 points and intra-day low of 283 points, finally closed at 39,253.25 points level, brokers said.
MUGHAL (2.70%) in the steel sector gained as the government has withdrawn regulatory duty exemption on semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel and now they would be subject to 30 percent regulatory duty. Both the gas utilities SNGPL (4.68%) and SSGC (4.98%) gained on the back of the news that government has planned to increase electricity and gas tariff this month to meet revenue requirements as per the commitment with IMF, stated analyst Nabeel Haroon.
Volumes increased by 13.5% to 172m shares while value decreased by 20% to Rs 10.9b/104$m. SNGPL was the volume leader with over 31m shares traded.
As per news, gas tariffs are to be raised which raised interest in SNGPL and SSGC. SSGC closed at its upper limit while SNGPL gained 4.8%. Investors took positions in MLCF and DGKC which closed up by 2.1% and 1% respectively.
Engineering sector continue to rise as ASTL closed at its upper limit, while ISL and MUGHAL gained between 1.9% -2.5%, said dealers at Topline brokerage.