Stocks bounce back on late buying at dips

Trading on the national bourse began with the benchmark of major shares extending losses from the previous sessions. But a bullish trend overpowered the bears soon enough to help the index close on the higher side, said Topline Securities Ltd. The KSE-100 index traded within a range of 1,099 points, with positive contributions originating from stocks in the oil marketing and refinery sectors. JS Global Capital Ltd said the upswing in the stock market is likely to continue going forward. It recommended that investors should take advantage of any downside as an opportunity to buy stocks in banking, cement and exploration and production sectors. According to Arif Habib Ltd, the ratio of advancers to decliners within the KSE-100 index remained 67:29, with key upside movers being Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (up two per cent), Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (up 3.2pc) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (1.6pc).