KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday started on strong positive note and despite mid-session pressure due to some profit taking closed in green with healthy gains on the back of continuous buying by both local and foreign investors.
The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 237.88 points or 0.48 percent and closed at 49,731.35 points. During the session, the index hit 49,919.03 points intra-day high and 49,317.59 points intra-day low level.
Trading activities however remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 467.383 million shares as compared to 556.389 million shares traded on last Friday while total daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 14.119 billion against previous session’s Rs 15.450 billion.
BRIndex100 gained 21.05 points or 0.42 percent to close at 5,029.72 points with total daily turnover of 420.349 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 116.95 points or 0.66 percent to close at 17,796.00 points with total daily trading volumes of 266.471 million shares.
The foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $1.673 million. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 30 billion to Rs 7.316 trillion. Out of total 363 active scrips, 219 closed in positive and 132 in negative while the value of 12 stocks remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 98.168 million shares and inched up by Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 3.15 followed by PTCL that lost Rs 0.17 to close at Rs 6.95 with 22.603 million shares. Pak Int. Bulk Terminal gained Rs 0.42 to close at Rs 4.59 with 22.073 million shares.
Nestle Pakistan and Philip Morris Pak were the top gainers increasing by Rs 102.00 and Rs 40.50 respectively to close at Rs 7300.00 and Rs 580.50 while Rafhan Maize and Pak Hotels were the top losers declining by Rs 178.11 and Rs 38.30 respectively to close at Rs 8200.00 and Rs 484.71.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan’s equities market experienced a strong start to the week, with the index surging by 426 points to reach 49,919 within the first five minutes of trading. As the index approached the significant 50,000 level, investors decided to lock in profits, leading to a brief dip to an intraday low of 49,317, representing a loss of 175.88 points. Eventually, the market rebounded, and the KSE-100 index closed at 49,731, marking a 237 point increase, or a 0.48 percent gain.
The market’s positive momentum was driven by the banking, technology, and cement sectors, with TRG, PSEL, THALL, MLCF, and MCB collectively contributing plus 143 points. In contrast, ENGRO, UBL, and LUCK incurred a combined loss of 48 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 106.64 points or 1.08 percent to close at 10,012.83 points with total turnover of 12.715 million shares. BR Cement Index gained 22.74 points or 0.44 percent to close at 5,187.92 points with 29.395 million shares. BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 1.86 points or 0.02 percent to close at 11,592.15 points with 15.507 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index added 39.28 points or 0.38 percent to close at 10,422.65 points with 113.162 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 4,587.72 points, up 11.65 points or 0.25 percent with 37.371 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index surged by 89.44 points or 2.5 percent to close at 3,674.16 points with 73.754 million shares.
Muhammad Shuja Qureshi at JS Global Capital said that the week started on a bullish note with the KSE-100 index gaining 238 points to close at 49,731 levels. The market volatility increased as investors booked gains initially and also took advantage of an intra-day drop of 176 points. The steel sector posted gains with INIL (up 7.5 percent) and ISL (up 7.5 percent) closing at their respective upper locks.
Turnover dropped to 466 million shares, where KEL (up 0.6 percent), PTC (down 2.4 percent), PIBTL (up 10.1 percent), WTL (up 0.7 percent) and PAEL (up 5.8 percent) were the volume leaders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023