KARACHI: A bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday on the back of across-the-board aggressive buying on expectations of revival of the IMF program.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 729.25 points or 1.87 percent and closed at 39,784.90 points. The index hit 39,946.59 points intraday high, however closed at slightly lower level due to profit-taking in some stocks.

Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on the ready counter increased to 269.493 million shares as compared to 179.760 million shares traded on Tuesday while total daily traded value on ready counter increased to Rs 10.574 billion against previous session’s Rs 6.368 billion.

BRIndex100 added 88.92 points or 2.3 percent to close at 3,958.37 points with total daily turnover of 246.152 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 291.36 points or 2.09 percent to close at 14,261.60 points with total daily turnover of 169.312 million shares.

Foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $403,095. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 94 billion to Rs 6.297 trillion. Out of total 339 active scrips, 225 closed in positive and only 92 in negative while the value of 22 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 20.618 billion and inched up by Rs 0.05 to close at Rs 1.19 followed by TLP Properties that gained Rs 0.66 to close at Rs 15.99 with 14.463 million shares. PPL increased by Rs 2.02 to close at Rs 80.17 with 13.282 million shares.

Rafhan Maize and Sapphire Textile were the top gainers increasing by Rs 485.91 and Rs 76.35 respectively to close at Rs 8381.75 and Rs 1094.35 while Philip Morris Pak and Ismail Industries were the top losers declining by Rs 42.72 and Rs 37.50 respectively to close at Rs 527.03 and Rs 462.50.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that another bullish session was taped at the PSX. The market resumed with the same optimistic outlook as the previous closing. The index opened in the green zone, with the bulls taking charge throughout the trading session, reaching an intraday high of plus 889.97 points accounting to recent developments in the revival of the IMF program, as the government appears to be taking all possible measures to revive the IMF program as it was reported that in the next ECC meeting gas tariffs will be raised, assisting in the resolution of the gas circular debt in accordance with IMF requirements. Volumes remained elevated across the board, with the cyclical sectors dominating the volume board.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (up 290.6 points), Fertilizer (up 106 points), E&P (up 98.8 points), Cements (up 49.9 points) and Technology & Communication (up 32.0 points).

BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 90.71 points or 1.27 percent to close at 7,226.37 points with total turnover of 4.238 million shares.

BR Cement Index added 68.59 points or 1.94 percent to close at 3,602.24 points with 33.602 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index surged by 275.07 points or 3.68 percent to close at 7,742.15 points with 24.240 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index inched up by 49.45 points or 0.79 percent to close at 6,276.90 points with 16.004 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index increased by 78.2 points or 1.99 percent to close at 4,013.26 points with 45.149 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 4,195.85 points, up 45.06 points or 1.09 percent with 48.442 million shares.

Mohammed Waqar Iqbal at JS Global Capital said that Pakistan equities continue with their positive momentum as the index gained 729 points to close at 39,785 level.

Traded volumes stood at 269 million shares where Oil and Gas Exploration Companies, Fertilizer, Bank and Cement sectors were the major contributors.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023