KARACHI: Sentiments at the Pakistan equity market improved after the rupee started recovering against the dollar and posted partial gains in the interbank market after supposed central bank intervention, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed higher led by oil and banking scrips on strong earnings outlook, while the activity remained thin ahead of the central bank’s monetary policy announcement next week.

“Surging global crude oil prices, the rupee recovery, and rising cement, petroleum and auto sales played a catalytic role in the bullish close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index gained 0.44 per cent, or 203.74 points, to close at 46,920.46 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.53 per cent, or 98.44 points, to close at 18,658.17 points.

As many as 518 scrips were active, of which 275 advanced, 222 declined and 21 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 405.17 million shares, compared with the turnover of 332.78 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said after posting consecutive losses in the last two sessions, the index bounced back and put a recovery of 242 points during the session.

“Besides, the rebound in the technology sector, E&P stocks posted gains. Cement and O&GMCs remained under selling pressure, whereas nominal gains were witnessed in steel, chemical and banking sector stocks.”

An analyst at Pearl Securities said the stocks recovered on Thursday, primarily supported by the index heavyweight banks, oil and gas and technology sectors, which cumulatively added 181 points to the index.

“The rupee finds some gain, as the dollar in the interbank falls 94 paisas after the SBP provided more clarity over [the] currency flows.”

“Going forward, we expect the market to move both ways ahead of the MPS; therefore, we suggest our investors to book profits at higher levels.”

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Allawasaya Textile, up Rs125.61 to close at Rs1,800.54/share; and Bhanero Textile, up Rs76.5 to close at Rs1,096.5/share.

The companies, which reflected the most losses included Nestle Pakistan, down Rs113.50 to close at Rs5,987/share; and Rafhan Maize, down Rs479 to close at Rs11,000/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Service Fabric (Rights) with a turnover of 61.62 million shares. The scrip gained 57 paisas to close at Rs2.74/share; followed by Worldcall Telecom with a turnover of 44.89 million shares. It gained 20 paisas to close at Rs3.32/share. TRG Pakistan remained the third with a turnover of 32.20 million shares. It gained Rs9.15 to finish at Rs176.66.