KARACHI: A positive trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange on the second consecutive day following reports of progress in signing the SLA with the IMF for the extended tranche.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 40,417.97 points intraday high during the session, however closed at slightly lower level at 40,205.54 points with net gain of 79.49 points or 0.20 percent Thursday.

Trading activity also improved as total daily volumes on ready counter increased to 89.187 million shares as compared to 79.825 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 2.766 billion against previous session’s Rs 2.569 billion.

BRIndex100 inched up by 13.71 points or 0.34 percent to close at 4,101.87 points with total daily turnover of 74.661 million shares.

BRIndex30 added 60.63 points or 0.41 percent to close at 14,678.75 points with total daily trading volumes of 50.228 million shares.

Foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $339,051. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 3 billion to Rs 6.103 trillion. Out of total 311 active scrips, 147 closed in negative and 138 in positive while the value of 26 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 7.777 million shares however closed at previous session’s closing level of Rs 1.17 without any change followed by K-Electric that lost Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 1.98 with 4.220 million shares. PPL gained Rs 0.24 to close at Rs 67.22 with 3.957 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Bata Pak were the top gainers increasing by Rs 80.15 and Rs 29.99 respectively to close at Rs 5145.25 and Rs 1760.00 while Pak Services and Towellers Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 25.45 and Rs 23.60 respectively to close at Rs 800.10 and Rs 291.16.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the bulls seized control of the PSX as the business week came to a close. The bourse opened with upbeat vibes due to progress in signing the SLA between the government and the IMF for the extended tranche. After the IMF news, investors breathed a sigh of relief as the index reached an intraday high of 292.55 points, but political instability forced them to stay cautious as slow activity was observed. The volume remained flat across the board.

BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 12.06 points or 0.16 percent to close at 7,544.80 points with total turnover of 607,085 shares.

BR Cement Index increased by 24.82 points or 0.64 percent to close at 3,904.66 points with 9.073 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index added 37.76 points or 0.46 percent to close at 8,257.75 points with 16.450 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index surged by 57.3 points or 0.82 percent to close at 7,086.35 points with 7.157 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 10.66 points or 0.27 percent to close at 3,941.71 points with 12.798 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 4,199.38 points, up 8.38 points or 0.2 percent with 13.812 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that stocks closed sharply higher as investor weigh positive outcome of FM virtual spring meetings with IMF/WB and the IMF confidence on staff level agreement. He said Pak rupee recovery and reports of likely receipts from the UAE played a catalyst role in bullish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023