KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday witnessed a lacklustre session with extremely low volumes. However, it managed to close on slightly positive note due to fresh buying at the fag end.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 45,907.08 points intraday high and 45,662.70 points intraday low before closing at 45,803.19 points, gaining 49.67 points or 0.11 percent.

Trading activity remained extremely low as daily volumes on ready counter declined to 103.494 million shares as compared to 222.531 million shares traded last Friday. The daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 3.296 billion against previous session’s Rs 11.056 billion.

BRIndex100 inched up by 9.13 points or 0.2 percent to close at 4,592.03 points with total daily turnover of 84.468 million shares.

BRIndex30 added 63.21 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,296.95 points with total daily trading volumes of 50.046 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $613,150. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 9 billion to Rs 6.763 trillion. Out of total 308 active scrips, 145 closed in negative and 133 in positive while the value of 30 stocks remained unchanged.

Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 7.869 million shares and gained Rs 0.45 to close at Rs 14.78 followed by SEARLR2 that lost Rs 0.35 to close at Rs 1.02 with 7.346 million shares. Agritech Limited closed at Rs 8.25, up Rs 0.32 with 6.297 million shares.

Khyber Tobacco and Mari Petroleum were the top gainers increasing by Rs 24.98 and Rs 18.60 respectively to close at Rs 375.32 and Rs 1550.40 while Mehmood Textile and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 43.53 and Rs 22.50 respectively to close at Rs 536.97 and Rs 7000.00.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan equities witnessed a slight uptick by the end of the day, closing at 45,803 points, signifying a 0.11 percent increase, equivalent to a gain of 49 points. Throughout the trading session, the market index remained relatively stable, with investors displaying limited enthusiasm.

Banks, E&P, and IT stocks, including MCB, HUBC, UBL, SYS, and MARI, made a positive contribution by adding 79 points. However, DAWH, LUCK, and MEBL collectively lost 32 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index inched up by 6.5 points or 0.07 percent to close at 8,970.93 points with total turnover of 4.807 million shares.

BR Cement Index declined by 48.76 points or 1.03 percent to close at 4,662.75 points with 11.034 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index added 43.1 points or 0.4 percent to close at 10,691.66 points with 10.716 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 51.32 points or 0.58 percent to close at 8,955.81 points with 7.449 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index gained 28.24 points or 0.66 percent to close at 4,306.32 points with 10.255 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,739.91 points, up 21.84 points or 0.59 percent with 7.778 million shares.

Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said the stock exchange witnessed another lackluster session, with the PSX settling at 45,803 points, up 50 points.

Traded volume stood at 103 million shares, where PRL (up 3.1 percent), AGL (up 4.0 percent), WTL (up 0.9 percent), DGKC (down 1.4 percent) and BIPL (up 6.8 percent), were the volume leaders.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023