KSE-100 stages turnaround, rises 0.44%

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a turnaround on Wednesday as the KSE-100 Index rose 0.44% in a lacklustre session.

The index remained range-bound as investor interest dampened owing to lack of positive triggers.

By the end of the day, the KSE-100 Index was up 186.9 points or 0.44% to close at 42,983.75.

KSE-100 extends losses, falls 0.13%

The session kicked off with a jump but the market erased all gains and traded in red for most part of the day. In the final hour, a buying spree lifted the market upward and aided it to close with green.

Despite the optimism, index-heavy automobile, cement, oil and banking sectors closed with losses while chemical space ended mixed.

A report from Capital Stake stated that bulls regained control of the PSX on Wednesday.

“Indices swayed in both directions, inclining sharply towards the end, till finally closing the session in green,” the report said.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that another range-bound session was witnessed at the PSX due to lacklustre activity.

“The index traded in a range throughout the day as the market swung in both directions due to a lack of investor engagement,” it said. “Mainboard volumes considerably reduced, while third-tier companies continued to lead in terms of volumes.”

On the economic front, the government of Pakistan decided to keep the petrol prices unchanged at Rs224.8 for last days of November.

Moreover, rupee continued to depreciate against the US dollar, falling Re0.5 or 0.22% on Wednesday in the inter-bank market to close at Rs222.41.

Sectors lifting the benchmark KSE-100 Index higher included, fertiliser (134.24 points), technology and communication (98.27 points) and investment banking (23.95 points).

Volume on the all-share index inched up slightly to 188.7 million from 188.66 million on Tuesday. The value of shares traded fell to Rs6.7 billion from Rs7.4 billion recorded in the previous session.

Unity Foods was the volume leader with 19.4 million shares, followed by Hascol with 16.1 million shares and TRG Pakistan with 11.5 million shares

Shares of 362 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 156 registered an increase, 181 recorded a fall, and 25 remained unchanged.