KSE-100 surges 1.32% as market expects positive outcome from govt’s visit to China

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed an optimistic session on Tuesday and the KSE-100 index jumped 1.32% as investors expected positive outcomes from government’s visit to China.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Beijing on a two-day visit to China on Tuesday, with revitalisation of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) high on the agenda. During his visit, the PM will also reportedly seek some debt relief from China, in particular the rolling over of bilateral debt.

KSE-100 gains 0.3% amid thin volumes

By the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index rose 544.03 points or 1.32% to close at 41,808.69.

Trading began with a spike and the market traded in green for the rest of the day. The upward momentum accelerated in the final hour and elevated the gains.

Index heavy banking, cement, chemical, oil and automobile sectors ended the day with massive gains.

In its report, Capital Stake said stocks extended the rally from the previous session. “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China aiming to rekindle trade and other economic projects between the two countries helped restore investors’ confidence in the market,” it said.

On the economic front, the consumer price index (CPI) based inflation increased to 26.6% on year-on-year basis in October 2022 compared to an increase of 23.2% in September 2022 and 9.2% in October 2021.

Moreover, rupee registered back-to-back gains against the US dollar, and settled with a marginal appreciation of Re0.24 or 0.11% in the inter-bank on Tuesday to close at 220.65.

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 Index in green included technology and communication sector (135.39 points), cement sector (84.83 points) and oil and gas exploration sector (64.67 points).

Volume on the all-share index soared to 192.2 million from 97.5 million on Monday. Similarly, the value of shares traded surged more than two fold to Rs6.3 billion from Rs2.5 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 33.1 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 11.6 million shares and TRG Pakistan with 8.2 million shares

Shares of 356 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 250 registered an increase, 82 recorded a fall, and 24 remained unchanged.