KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday witnessed a bullish trend and closed on strong positive note with healthy gains on the back of aggressive buying, mainly by local investors coupled with institutional support. The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 532.56 points or 0.68 percent and closed at 78,793.41 points. The index hit 78,996.22 points intraday high, however closed at slightly lower level due to profit-taking in some stocks.
Trading activity also improved as total daily volumes on ready counter increased to 804.261 million shares as compared to 552.564 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 16.975 billion against previous session’s Rs 14.590 billion.
BRIndex100 added 79.76 points or 0.96 percent to close at 8,359.96 points with total daily turnover of 690.338 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 397.45 points or 1.53 percent to close at 26,400.41 points with total daily trading volumes of 436.841 million shares.
The foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $290,253. The market capitalization increased by Rs 63 billion to Rs 10.486 trillion. Out of total 473 active scrips, 261 closed in positive and 138 in negative while the value of 74 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 140.914 million shares and gained Rs 0.11 to close at Rs 1.31 followed by Kohinoor Spining that increased by Rs 0.76 to close at Rs 11.99 with 91.356 million shares. Power Cement closed at Rs 6.03, up Rs 0.24 with 51.625 million shares.
Hoechst Pakistan and Service Industries were the top gainers increasing by Rs 97.89 and Rs 92.02 respectively to close at Rs 1,724.00 and Rs 1,067.02 while Sapphire Textile Mills and Unilever Pakistan Foods were the top losers declining by Rs 35.01 and Rs 19.46 respectively to close at Rs 1,264.99 and Rs 17,800.00.
An analyst at Topline Securities said the KSE-100 Index maintained its upward trajectory, registering an intraday gain of 735 points before closing at 78,793, reflecting a 0.68 percent increase.
This sustained positive momentum is largely credited to Wednesday’s Treasury bill auction, where the government significantly lowered the cutoff yields by up to 148 basis points.
Cement and Steel sectors showed marked optimism as investors anticipate a rate cut in the forthcoming monetary policy. Key players like DGKC (up 5.59 percent), FCCL (up 4.48 percent), KOHC (up 4.10 percent), CSAP (up 10 percent), ASL (up 4.63 percent) and MUGHAL (up 3.10 percent) closed higher than their previous session’s performance.
Notably, FFC, SRVI, NBP, PSO, and LUCK collectively contributed plus 355 points to the index. Conversely, profit-taking in HBL, ENGRO, MTL, and MEBL led to a deduction of 132 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index declined by 207.19 points or 1.18 percent to close at 17,299.90 points with total turnover of 7.299 million shares.
BR Cement Index surged by 191.89 points or 2.59 percent to close at 7,604.13 points with 115.563 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 3.76 points or 0.02 percent to close at 22,427.81 points with 28.969 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 118.22 points or 0.66 percent to close at 18,039.45 points with 16.377 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index added 29.84 points or 0.42 percent to close at 7,052.46 points with 19.987 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index gained 17.7 points or 0.44 percent to close at 4,064.87 points with 204.754 million shares.
Mohammed Waqar Iqbal at JS Global Capital said positive momentum persisted at the PSX, driven by optimism surrounding a potential rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy announcement scheduled for September 12.
As a result, buying interest was primarily focused on Cement and Steel stocks, with notable activity also seen in the Fertilizer and Oil & Gas sectors.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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