The KSE-100 index grew by 48 points being led by PPL as rumors abounded of an extraordinary general meeting to announce special dividend. The stock closed with clipped gains when no anticipated announcement was made at the KSE. In the case of the fertiliser sector, FFC was the pick of the day jumping 1.6 percent over rumors of an expected urea price hike owing to a gas swap deal between fertilisers on SNGPL network and Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
On the contrary, Engro remained under selling pressure closing down 0.9 percent throughout the day owing to reports of disruptions in gas supply. The bull-run led by PPL allowed the benchmark to witness healthy gains during initial trading, while the absence of follow-up support and unprecedented selling through both off-shore and local channels in selected front line speculative stocks, mainly from E&P and fertiliser sectors trading at high multiples and facing various threats, disallowed the benchmark to sustain a level above 12,400.
The KSE-100 index closed at 12,377.77 with the gain of 47.63 points and total volume stood at 59,316,620 along with the total value of 3,495,270,927. KSE-30 index gained 1.91 points to close at 11,897.70 and All Share index closed at 8,505.57 after gaining 29.38 points. A total of 119 scrips advanced, 137 declined and 91 remain unchanged out of a total of 347 scrips traded.