KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday witnessed a mixed trend and after moving in both directions ended slightly up due to investors’ lack of interest and institutional profit-taking.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed 79,000 psychological level to hit 79,154.30 points intraday high however failed to continue this trend due to selling pressure and dropped at 78,578.02 points intra-day low level during the session. The index closed at 78,863.34 points, slightly up by only 15.33 points or 0.02 percent.

Trading activity remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 770.518 million shares as compared to 969.768 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 14.287 billion as compared to previous session’s Rs 17.510 billion.

BRIndex100 closed at 8,345.83, up 0.01 points with total daily turnover of 567.290 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 128.53 points or 0.48 percent to close at 26,908.46 points with total daily trading volumes of 319.991 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $149,668. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 18 billion to stand at Rs 10.467 trillion. Out of total 444 active scrips, 252 closed in negative and 148 in positive while the value of 44 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 87.102 million shares however lost Rs 0.03 to close at Rs 1.34 followed by Pace (Pak) Limited that increased by Rs 1.00 to close at Rs 5.66 with 66.581 million shares. Kohinoor Spining declined by Rs 1.12 to close at Rs 10.29 with 42.137 million shares.

Hallmark Company and Sazgar Engineering Works were the top gainers increasing by Rs 87.19 and Rs 51.72 respectively to close at Rs 982.12 and Rs 1,010.23 while Sapphire Fibres and Mari Petroleum Company were the top losers declining by Rs 77.38 and Rs 50.70 respectively to close at Rs 1,450.18 and Rs 3,590.72.

An analyst at Topline Securities said the Pakistan stock market edged up by 15 points, or 0.02 percent, closing at 78,863 level. The index saw considerable volatility throughout the session, reaching a high of 79,154 and a low of 78,587.

The rise was largely fuelled by stocks, including UBL, KOHC, MCB, HMB, and FFC, which together added 254 points to the index.

BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 26.51 points or 0.15 percent to close at 17,738.41 points with total turnover of 11.440 million shares.

BR Cement Index added 41.57 points or 0.55 percent to close at 7,569.43 points with 66.818 million shares

BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 132.2 points or 0.61 percent to close at 21,936.93 points with 33.843 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 102.84 points or 0.55 percent to close at 18,649.22 points with 17.725 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index decreased by 43.15 points or 0.59 percent to close at 7,214.87 points with 26.754 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 6.5 points or 0.16 percent to close at 4,009.07 points with 188.184 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed flat on institutional profit taking in blue chip scrips. Investor concerns for weak data for fertiliser and oil sales in August 2024, and uncertainty over IMF terms to secure $7.0 billion EFF for mini budget invited late session pressure.

He said FM affirmation on external financing assurances, speculations over SBP policy rate decision next week and upbeat data for trade deficit falling by 21 percent in August 2024 played a catalyst role in positive close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024

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