Equities roar back

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday witnessed posted strong recovery supported by healthy buying activity from local investors.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index increased by 1,913.57 points or 1.76 percent to close at a new peak level of 110,810.22 points on Wednesday up from 108,896.65 points on Tuesday. The index also hit 111,012 points intraday high level and 109, 416 points intraday low.

The daily trading volumes on the ready counter declined to 1,080 million compared to 1,548.302 million shares a day earlier. The daily traded value on the ready counter also declined from Rs 68.805 to Rs 47.139 billion.

BRIndex100 rose by 249.24 points or 2.16 percent to close at 11,772.18 points on Wednesday as against 11,522.94 points on Tuesday. Total volume at BRIndex was 919 million shares and K-Electric Ltd. was the most traded company in BRIndex100 with a volume of 136 million shares.

BRIndex30 opened at 35,549.84 points. It touched an intraday high of 36,584.01 points and an intraday low of 35,549.84 points and finally closed at 36,584.01 points which was 1034.17 points or 2.91 percent higher than previous close with total volume of 573 million.

The market capitalization increased by Rs 259 billion to Rs 14.151 trillion. Out of total 472 active scripts, 130 closed in negative and 288 in positive while the value of 54 stocks remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 136 million shares and closed at Rs 6.40 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at Rs 1.65 with 73.5 million shares. Fauji Foods Ltd closed at Rs 14.98 with 57.124 million shares.

Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited and Khyber Textile Mills Limited were the top gainers increasing by Rs 504.95 and Rs 53.11 respectively to close at Rs 20,835.50 and Rs 684.99 while Nestle Pakistan Limited and Mehmood Textile Mills Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 175.54 and Rs 59.14 respectively to close at Rs 7,155.27 and Rs 562.53.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the market maintained an upward trajectory, supported by strong buying activity from local institutions, and reached an intraday peak of 111,012.

Key contributors to the index’s rise included MARI, PPL, OGDC, DAWH, and UBL, which together added 1,002 points to the index. Trading activity remained robust, with a total volume of 1,079 million shares and a turnover of Rs. 47 billion.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said that stocks are bullish led by scrips across the board as investors weigh upbeat car sales data surging by 62pc YoY in Nov’24 and recent cut in the NSS rates renewing speculations over significant SBP policy easing this week.

Robust economic indicators, surging global crude oil prices and recovery in global equities on receding geopolitical tensions played a catalyst role in the new record close at PSX, he added.

BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 67.53 points or 0.33 percent to close at 20,459.84 points with a total turnover of 4.662 million shares.

BR Cement Index surged by 139.87 points or 1.18 percent to reach 11,950.05 points with a total turnover of 58.793 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index also gained 267.09 points or 0.93 percent to close at 28,878.55 points with a total turnover of 53.175 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 158.3 points or 0.89 percent to close at 17,945.19 points with a total turnover of 151.159 percent.

BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 11,753.90 points, up by 578.65 points or 5.18 percent with a total turnover of 117.134 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index gained 84.86 points to reach 5,522.65 points with a total turnover of 179.735 million shares.

Analysts at JS said Wednesday’s rebound was also supported by increased local buying led by mutual funds and investors are encouraged by falling inflation rates and expectations of the upcoming Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) meeting, signaling renewed confidence in the market’s potential.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024