KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Thursday remained bullish for most part of the session, however profit-taking at the fag end minimized its intraday gains.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 42,337.57 points intraday high and 42,057.41 points intraday low before closing at 42,093.80 points, up 5.87 points or 0.01 percent.
The daily trading volumes on ready counter decreased to 255.265 million shares as compared to 289.835 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 9.268 billion against previous session’s Rs 10.178 billion.
BRIndex100 inched up by 1.53 points or 0.04 percent to close at 4,275.83 points with total daily turnover of 219.476 million shares.
BRIndex30 lost 77.29 points or 0.52 percent to close at 14,899.58 points with total daily trading volumes of 136.019 million shares.
Foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $9.266 million. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 12 billion to Rs 6.354 trillion. Out of total 359 active scrips, 177 closed in negative and 160 in positive while the value of 22 stocks remained unchanged.
Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 23.414 million shares however lost Rs 0.11 to close at Rs 28.66 followed by Fauji Foods that inched down by Rs 0.09 to close at Rs 6.55 with 17.085 million shares. WorldCall Telecom closed at Rs 1.22, down Rs 0.02 with 13.596 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Nestle Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 592.50 and Rs 396.37 respectively to close at Rs 8492.50 and Rs 5681.38 while Khyber Textile and Indus Motor Co were the top losers declining by Rs 59.62 and Rs 54.65 respectively to close at Rs 735.38 and Rs 886.41.
“The positive momentum continued at the PSX,” an analyst at Arif Habib Limited said. The KSE-100 Index opened in green zone and continued to trade with positive sentiments throughout the trading session, reaching an intraday high of plus 248.41 points as investors opted to cherry pick strong fundamental stocks given the attractive valuation being offered in the market.
Rally was observed in Cement and IT sectors, although profit taking was witnessed during the last half of the day. Investor participation remained healthy as decent volumes were recorded across the board.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology & Communication (up 48.0 points), Commercial Banks (up 46.2 points), Food & Personal Care Products (up 33.6 points), Paper & Board (up 19.5 points) and Textile Composite (up 12.1 points).
BR Automobile Assembler Index declined by 128.79 points or 1.68 percent to close at 7,543.99 points with total turnover of 891,259 shares.
BR Cement Index lost 10.19 points or 0.24 percent to close at 4,280.39 points with 54.214 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index gained 35.59 points or 0.4 percent to close at 8,950.07 points with 42.250 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index inched up by 6.83 points or 0.09 percent to close at 7,370.24 points with 8.374 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index decreased by 46.81 points or 1.18 percent to close at 3,933.32 points with 14.431 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index increased by 46.56 points or 1.17 percent to close at 4,025.40 points with 35.024 million shares.
Sara Saeed at JS Global Capital Limited said that the local bourse kicked off with a positive momentum but lost the sentiment as the day progressed and closed at the 42,094 level, up by mere 6 points.
Traded volume stood at 255 million shares where MLCF (down 0.4 percent), FFL (down 1.4 percent), WTL (down 1.6 percent), BAFL (up 0.8 percent) and BIPL (down 3.8 percent) were the top contributors.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023