Stocks extend gains in range-bound trading
The Pakistan Stock Exchange observed a range-bound activity on Wednesday with the benchmark making an intraday high and low of 196 points and 81 points, respectively. Topline Securities Ltd said investors remained uncertain because of the ongoing political and economic conditions. Higher inflation was one key factor for the bearish sentiment, according to JS Global. Headline inflation for October surpassed street estimates of 23 per cent and clocked in at 26.6pc on an annual basis. Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark stayed in the green for the most part of the trading session with investors expecting positive outcomes from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s two-day visit to China. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,944.59 points, up 135.90 points or 0.33pc from the preceding session. The trading volume increased 20pc to 230.6 million shares while the traded value went down 1.3pc to $28.2m on a day-on-day basis. Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Hascol Petroleum Ltd (55.7m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (23.5m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (16m shares), G3 Technologies Ltd (10.6m shares) and TPL Properties Ltd (10.6m shares).