KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Friday witnessed a mixed trend and after moving both ways, closed on slightly positive note due to fresh buying in some stocks.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 41,213.37 points intraday high and 40,967.54 points intraday low before closing at 41,118.61 points, up 39.96 points or 0.10 percent.
Trading activity remained very low as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 110.366 million shares as compared to 141.865 million shares traded on Thursday while daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 4.677 billion against Thursday’s Rs 7.438 billion.
BRIndex100 gained 7.58 points or 0.18 percent to close at 4,121.65 points with total daily turnover of 94.120 million shares.
BRIndex30 inched up by 31.71 points or 0.22 percent to close at 14,732.70 points with total daily trading volumes of 61.882 million shares. Foreign investors remained net buyer of shares worth $552,807. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 13 billion to Rs 6.429 trillion. Out of total 317 active scrips, 157 closed in negative and 133 in positive while the value of 27 stocks remained unchanged.
Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 12.157 million shares however lost Rs 0.14 to close at Rs 4.76 followed by WorldCall Telecom that inched down by Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 1.19 with 12.095 million shares. BankIslami Pak closed at Rs 13.20, down Rs 0.07 with 7.351 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Bata Pak were the top gainers increasing by Rs 391.00 and Rs 114.99 respectively to close at Rs 9190.00 and Rs 1989.99 while Unilever Foods and Sapphire Fiber were the top losers declining by Rs 1216.00 and Rs 57.99, respectively to close at Rs 18210.00 and Rs 972.00.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the PSX concluded the week with a mixed session. The benchmark KSE-100 Index traded in a narrow range in both sessions as investor involvement remain sluggish as they remained cautions while waiting from IMF board for the release of 9th tranche of the IMF Extended Fund Facility. Volume remained dry across the board.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology & Communication (up 34.8 points), Fertilizer (up 28.2 points), Commercial Banks (up 16.8 points), Textile Composite (up 7.0 points), and Pharmaceuticals (up 6.7 points).
BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 17.99 points or 0.24 percent to close at 7,393.79 points with total turnover of 1.952 million shares.
BR Cement Index lost 4.75 points or 0.13 percent to close at 3,697.62 points with 8.775 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 6.85 points or 0.08 percent to close at 8,172.22 points with 27.780 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 6,700.94 pints, down 0.11 points with 8.761 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 22.99 points or 0.55 percent to close at 4,167.82 points with 14.207 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index added 28.48 points or 0.67 percent to close at 4,253.77 points with 20.768 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed higher led by select scrips as investors speculate on likely Pak-IMF staff level agreement next week. He said PKR recovery, strong corporate earnings in banking sector and likely resolve to circular debt crises played a catalyst role in positive activity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023