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September closes 3.96% lower: KSE-100 adds 0.22% to 169,969 on the month's last session as 251 names advance, the cements and banks firm and KOSM runs 15.5% on 58m

The KSE-100 rose 0.22% to 169,969 on Wednesday, ending a two-session decline and closing September 3.96% below the 31 August close of 176,976 - a month that took the index through the 10% line to its 14 September correction low of 167,971 and back inside it, after August's 0.5% gain. The index remains about 9.33% below the 6 July record, 0.61% under the 24 July low of 171,021 for a fifth straight session, 1.19% above the correction low, and 0.47% lower on the week with two sessions left. The session itself was firm and broad: 251 advancers against 194 decliners across the 493-name board, 21 of 33 sectors higher and three swept higher outright - the Refinery sector at 0.98% with all four up, the Exchange Traded Funds at 0.64% with all nine, and the Close-End Mutual Funds at 3.73% - on a 591m tape with 374m in advancing names against 185m in declining ones, two to one. The engines led for once: Cement rose 1.26% with 16 of 19 higher, Commercial Banks 0.82% with 14 of 19, Oil and Gas Marketing 1.06%, Fertilizer 0.94% on FATIMA's 3.1%, and the securities complex 0.74%, while Technology and Communication eased 0.27% and Power Generation and Distribution 0.22%. The tape's size was the fringe: PIBTL was the most active name on 73m at +0.8%, KOSM ran 15.5% higher on 58m - a Rs 0.77 move on a Rs 4.96 stock inside the Rs 1 band - and TISL fell 1.7% on 51m. The KSE-30's 0.37% gain led the four gauges.