PSX recoups early losses, rises 896 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday closed higher by 0.5% despite volatility as investors accumulated lucrative stocks to build their portfolio either for quick profits or long-term investments. The market faced selling pressure earlier in the day but buying interest emerged soon afterwards, pushing the index into positive territory. Selective stock purchases in cement, commercial bank, fertiliser and oil & gas exploration sectors underpinned the benchmark KSE-100 index. The index touched the high of 183,802 and low of 182,055 during the session. At close, the KSE-100 recorded a rise of 896.25 points, or 0.49%, to settle at 183,049.81. Topline Securities observed that the KSE-100 posted gains in a predominantly range-bound session. Throughout the day, the index moved within a narrow band. Heavyweights such as Engro Holdings, Lucky Cement, Faysal Bank, MCB Bank and Bank Alfalah supported the market’s performance as they added 920 points to the benchmark.