The bourse saw yet another day of highly volatile trade, making an intra-day high of 33,464 but failed to maintain its momentum amid reports of foreign institutional investor selling.
At the close of the business day, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.16% or 54.17 points to end at 33,242.94.
JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said the auto sector witnessed a bullish momentum on the back of positive expectations from the upcoming auto policy as HCAR, PSMC and INDU ended 4.2%, 1.4% and 3.4% higher, respectively.
Shares of 376 companies were traded on yesterday. Of these, 175 declined, 178 closed higher and 23 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.2 billion.
Pak Elektron was the volume leader with 19.3 million shares, losing Rs2.54 to close at Rs55.11. It was followed by Engro Fertilizer Limited with 14.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.39 to close at Rs87.44 and Maple Leaf Cement with 11.8 million shares, losing Rs1.05 to close at Rs51.33.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs6 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.