Bulls returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, as positive triggers pushed the benchmark KSE-100 Index up 1%, while volume declined from the last session.
The index traded in the green for a major part of the day, accumulating 584.08 points to reach an intra-day high of 44,484.76.
At close, the KSE-100 settled with a gain of 439.27 points or 1% to end at 44,339.95.
“Investor confidence seemed to be improved following news of liquidity injection by the State Bank of Pakistan,” said Capital Stake in its post-market comment.
“The market is expected to regain momentum in the coming weeks inspired by secondary market money market yields likely normalising going forward (3M-1Y yields down 15-41bps today) and year-end phenomenon,” said AKD Securities.
“Medium-term performance is likely to be governed by the IMF Executive Board’s approval regarding resumption of the programme,” it added.
KSE-100 ends week on a positive note, up 0.39%
On the economic front, State Bank Pakistan (SBP) fixed a maximum limit of $100,000 (or equivalent in other foreign currencies) per person per calendar year for buying of foreign currency from Exchange Companies.
On the corporate front, the Board of Directors of Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited have accorded in-principle approval to the company to evaluate and pursue (including as part of a consortium of parties) the potential acquisition of the majority shareholding (i.e. approximately 84.51%) of Samba Bank Limited proposed to be sold.
Meanwhile, sectors adding the colour green to the index included cement (100.65 points), technology and communication (87.89 points) and fertiliser (58.20 points).
Volume decreased, clocking in at 238.45 million on the all-shares index, down from 252.20 million on Friday. However, the value of shares traded improved to Rs9.4 billion, up from Rs8.05 billion.
TRG Pakistan Limited was the volume leader with 25.68 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 17.46 million shares, and Byco Petroleum at 13.94 million shares.
Shares of 343 companies were traded on Monday, of which 248 registered an increase, 76 recorded a fall, and 19 remained unchanged.