KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday witnessed a bullish trend and hit new highest-ever levels on the back of continuous buying by local and foreign investors coupled with institutional support.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 724.99 points or 1.23 percent and closed at its new highest-ever level of 59,811.34 points. The index hit 59,896.08 points intra-day highest ever level but due to selling pressure dropped into negative zone to hit 58,999.31 points intra-day low level.
The daily trading volumes on ready counter stood at 657.580 million shares as compared to 658.424 million shares traded on last Friday while total daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 20.27 billion against previous session’s Rs 22.015 billion.
BRIndex100 added 82.39 points or 1.37 percent to close at 6,109.72 points with total daily turnover of 552.552 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 352.65 points or 1.69 percent to close at 21,262.77 points with total daily trading volumes of 247.102 million shares.
Foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $4.166 million. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 99 billion to Rs 8.648 trillion. Out of total 391 active scrips, 245 closed in positive and 121 in negative while the value of 25 stocks remained unchanged.
Kohinoor Spinning was the volume leader with 109.392 million shares and increased by Rs 0.98 to close at Rs 4.00 followed by WorldCall Telecom that lost Rs 0.04 to close at Rs 1.52 with 43.313 million shares. Yousuf Weaving gained Rs 0.56 to close at Rs 4.24 with 22.758 million shares.
Hoechst Pak and Ismail Industries were the top gainers increasing by Rs 88.11 and Rs 75.12 respectively to close at Rs 1263.00 and Rs 1076.72 while Nestle Pakistan and Rafhan Maize were the top losers declining by Rs 117.50 and Rs 91.97 respectively to close at Rs 8450.00 and Rs 10390.38.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the week began on a positive note for Pakistan equities, as the index recorded a significant surge of 725 points or 1.23 percent, closing the session at 59,811 points and approaching the psychological milestone of 60,000. Throughout the trading day, the index exhibited a range of 896 points, reaching an intraday high of 59,896 (up 809 points) and a low of 58,999 (down 87 points).
Key contributors to the positive momentum were sectors such as banks and cement, with prominent stocks like HBL, UBL, MCB, DGKC, and LUCK collectively adding 388 points to the index. On the flip side, MARI, MEBL, and SYS collectively dampened some gains, resulting in a loss of 105 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index added 102.05 points or 0.8 percent to close at 12,933.98 points with total turnover of 8.845 million shares.
BR Cement Index increased by 140.18 points or 2.26 percent to close at 6,350.20 points with 54.691 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index surged by 382.49 points or 2.73 percent to close at 14,382.53 points with 72.022 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 65.33 points or 0.48 percent to close at 13,695.56 points with 17.102 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 7.48 points or 0.14 percent to close at 5,353.20 points with 32.189 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 34.73 points or 0.83 percent to close at 4,133.76 points with 83.282 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks traded at new all-time high amid institutional interest in scrips across the board as investor weigh strong economic data on falling current account deficit and surging foreign remittances.
He said imminent IMF board approval due for SLA next week of January, over $700 million disbursement after IMFs completion of first quarterly review under SBA and expected deliberations over SIFC initiatives during PM visit to UAE played a catalyst role in record surge in PSX.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023