KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its record breaking trend and hit another historic highest-ever level with robust trading activity on Thursday. On the back of healthy buying by local and foreign investors coupled with institutional support, the market continued making new highs.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 800.35 points or 1.25 percent and crossed 64,000 psychological level to close at 64,718.08 points. The index hit 64,958.10 points intraday high, which was also highest-ever intraday high.
Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 1,316.526 million shares as compared to 984.813 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 37.179 billion against previous session’s Rs 35.094 billion.
BRIndex100 added 83.85 points or 1.28 percent to close at 6,643.36 points with total daily turnover of 1,149.831 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 237.83 points or 1.02 percent to close at 23,553.91 points with total daily trading volumes of 827.093 million shares.
Foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $4.311 million. The market capitalization increased by Rs 109 billion to Rs 9.315 trillion. Out of total 402 active scrips, 216 closed in positive and 167 in negative while the value of 19 stocks remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 246.006 million shares and gained Rs 0.45 to close at Rs 3.97 followed by Cnergyico PK that inched up by Rs 0.22 to close at Rs 5.07 with 98.899 million shares. Hascol Petroleum closed at Rs 6.83, up Rs 0.14 with 60.506 million shares.
Mari Petroleum and Sapphire Fibers were the top gainers increasing by Rs 127.22 and Rs 98.19 respectively to close at Rs 2012.66 and Rs 1407.69 while Rafhan Maize Products Company and Pakistan Engineering Company were the top losers declining by Rs 109.00 and Rs 41.25 respectively to close at Rs 11,290.00 and Rs 508.75.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan’s equities maintained their upward momentum, securing a 6th consecutive daily gain. The index exhibited volatility, fluctuating between a low of 63,853 and a high of 64,958.
The initial half of the session witnessed substantial buying activity, propelling the index close to the 65,000 mark. However, a temporary decline occurred due to profit-taking, reaching a low of 63,853. Buyers reentered the market, pushing the index back towards intraday highs, ultimately concluding the day at 64,718 represented an increase of 800 points or 1.25 percent.
During the trading hours, stocks in the E&P, OMC, and Banking sectors, including BAHL, MARI, MEBL, PSO, and BAFL made positive contributions, collectively adding 483 points. On the flip side, some stocks such as HUBC, LUCK, and SYS witnessed profit-taking activities, resulting in a combined loss of 97 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index inched up by 6.04 points or 0.04 percent to close at 14,616.30 points with total turnover of 19.026 million shares.
BR Cement Index decreased by 39.71 points or 0.57 percent to close at 6,974.69 points with 48.709 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index surged by 549.31 points or 3.62 percent to close at 15,736.80 points with 99.786 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 26.45 points or 0.18 percent to close at 14,384.48 points with 262.933 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index increased by 83.26 points or 1.41 percent to close at 6,005.84 points with 148.847 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 20.23 points or 0.47 percent to close at 4,283.80 points with 207.897 million shares.
Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said bullish trend continued and PSX crossed the 64,900 level.
Traded volume stood at 1,316 million shares where KEL (up 13 percent), CNERGY (up 4.5 percent), HASCOL (up 2.1 percent), WTL (up 3.2 percent) and PTC (up 7.3 percent) were the volume leaders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023