KARACHI: A bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange Thursday due to investor confidence as the government announced to further increase fuel prices in order to keep in line with the IMF programme.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index increased by 291.37 points or 0.70 percent and closed at 41,730.16 points. During the session, the index hit 41,764.19 points intra-day high and 41,323.58 points intra-day low level.
Trading activity also improved as total daily volumes on ready counter increased to 162.179 million shares as compared to 141.705 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on ready counter increased to Rs 4.780 billion against previous day’s Rs 4.763 billion.
BRIndex100 gained 40.62 points or 0.99 percent to close at 4,143.11 points with total daily turnover of 136.983 million shares.
BRIndex30 inched up by 62.16 points or 0.42 percent to close at 14,908.81 points with total daily trading volumes of 83.232 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $898,887. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 41 billion to Rs 6.938 trillion. Out of total 336 active scrips, 173 closed in positive and 134 in negative while the value of 29 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 21.553 million shares however lost Rs 0.05 to close at Rs 1.42 followed by Oilboy Energy (R ) that increased by Rs 1.00 to close at Rs 2.01 with 11.396 million shares. Maple Leaf closed at Rs 27.73, up Rs 0.99 with 10.230 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Nestle Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 695.00 and Rs 104.90 respectively to close at Rs 10,495.00 and Rs 5,880.00 while Colgate Palmolive and Sapphire Textile were the top losers declining by Rs 47.00 and Rs 43.61 respectively to close at Rs 2153.00 and Rs 1106.38.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that PSX continued positive momentum as investors’ confidence got boosted as Government announced to further increase fuel prices in order to keep in line with the IMF Program. The KSE-100 Index stayed in green zone throughout the day. Activity remained healthy across the board as cement sector remained in the limelight due to price increase in the North region.
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (up 63.7 points), Power (up 55.8 points), Cement (up 53.7 points), Fertilizer (up 49.3 points) and OMC’s (up 35.4 points).
BR Automobile Assembler Index lost 25.37 points or 0.26 percent to close at 9,874.49 points with total turnover of 579,574 shares.
BR Cement Index increased by 67.99 points or 1.67 percent to close at 4,147.39 points with 30.290 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 11.67 points or 0.13 percent to close at 8,742.95 points with 7.026 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index surged by 115.16 points or 2.18 percent to close at 5,406.46 points with 8.798 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index added 56.82 points or 1.53 percent to close at 3,782.65 points with 14.427 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,247.03, down 6.85 points or 0.21 percent with 36.752 million shares.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan equities continued its positive momentum where benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 41,730 level with an increase of 291 points, up 0.70%.
After a sideways opening, market spiked up making an intraday high of 325 points to 41,764 level due to optics taken by government like increasing petrol and diesel prices to record Rs 234/liter and Rs 263/liter, coupled with amendment in tax relief provided to salaried class in order to meet the IMF conditions.
Initial gains were added by E&Ps sector on the back of rumors regarding circular debt payments where HUBCO, OGDC, PPL and POL cumulatively added 117 points.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022