Dewan Cement was the volume leader with 15.212 million shares. It rose by Rs 1.63 to close at 37.23 followed by Bank of Punjab that gained Rs 0.36 to close at Rs 17.58 with 13.739 million shares. Dost Steels inched up by Rs 0.16 to close at Rs 10.68 with 13.029 million shares. Philip Morris Pak and Sanofi-Aventis were the top gainers with Rs 121.17 and Rs 117.50, respectively to close at Rs 2,752.08 and Rs 2,467.50. Pak Services and Sapphire Fiber were the top losers with Rs 46.50 and Rs 40.00, respectively to close at Rs 883.50 and Rs 970.00.
An analyst at Global Securities said the market started off strong and continued to trend upwards for the session, settling at 46,920 points, just shy of the 47,000 barrier. The cement sector performed well with almost all stocks closing in green on anticipation of healthy dispatches recorded during December 2016. The oil and gas marketing sector also remained in the limelight with HASCOL (+5.00 percent), PSO (+1.31 percent), SHEL (+0.23 percent) and APL (+0.1 percent) contributing 32 points on anticipation of strong earnings on accounts of inventory gains resulting from recovery in international oil prices. The day's top performer emerged at HBL (+1.96 percent) with a contribution of 65 points.