KARACHI: A bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday on the back of aggressive buying, mainly by local investors coupled with institutional support.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index increased by 229.20 points or 0.35 percent and closed at 65,731.79 points. The index hit 65,968.03 points intraday high, however closed at slightly lower level due to profit-taking in some stocks.

Trading activity further improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 341.843 million shares as compared to 323.281 million shares traded on Tuesday. However, the daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 11.844 billion against previous session’s Rs 17.059 billion.

BRIndex100 gained 5.99 points or 0.09 percent to close at 6,759.66 points with total daily turnover of 298.193 million shares.

BRIndex30 closed at 22,548.71 points, down 93.92 points or 0.41 percent with total daily trading volumes of 214.565 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $93,341. The market capitalization increased by Rs 26 billion to Rs 9.288 trillion. Out of total 342 active scrips, 173 closed in positive and 146 in negative while the value of 23 stocks remained unchanged.

Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 45.010 million shares and gained Rs 0.14 to close at Rs 5.28 followed by WorldCall Telecom that inched down by Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 1.36 with 34.431 million shares. The Organic Meat Company lost Rs 0.57 to close at Rs 28.97 with 17.997 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Philip Morris Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 90.00 and Rs 39.89 respectively to close at Rs 7,510.00 and Rs 749.99 while Rafhan Maize Products Company and Siemens Pakistan Engineering were the top losers declining by Rs 424.49 and Rs 14.43 respectively to close at Rs 8,575.01 and Rs 582.01.

An analyst at Topline Securities said the trading session in Pakistan’s equities concluded with the index reaching 65,732, marking a 0.35 percent increase or 229 points. The index remained positive throughout the day, with intraday highs and lows recorded at 65,968 and 65,615 points, respectively.

Fertilizer and Banking sectors contributed positively to the index as FFC, MEBL, NBP, PKGS and ENGRO added 151 points, cumulatively.

BR Automobile Assembler Index added 68.61 points or 0.44 percent to close at 15,683.37 points with total turnover of 5.348 million shares.

BR Cement Index decreased by 41.3 points or 0.64 percent to close at 6,439.05 points with 7.597 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 152.28 points or 0.92 percent to close at 16,722.31 points with 69.784 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index inched up by 11.67 points or 0.08 percent to close at 14,393.68 points with 21.540 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index lost 23.96 points or 0.39 percent to close at 6,124.78 points with 27.984 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,789.04 points, up 13.53 points or 0.36 percent with 61.185 million shares.

Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said bullish momentum persisted largely driven by news of staff-level agreement with the IMF during market hours.

Notable volume leaders for the day included BOP (up 2.7 percent), WTL (down 1.4 percent), TOMCL (down 1.9 percent), KEL (up 2.7 percent) and KOSM (up 3.7 percent).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024