KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday witnessed a mixed trend and after moving in both directions, closed on slightly positive note.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 80,888.86 points intraday high and 80,134.89 points intraday low, before closing at new highest-ever level of 80,282.80 points, up 49.13 points or 0.06 percent.

Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 496.782 million shares as compared to 536.580 million shares traded on Wednesday. The daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 19.328 billion against previous session’s Rs 22.722 billion.

BRIndex100 lost 4.96 points or 0.06 percent to close at 8,496.11 points with daily turnover of 386.175 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 130.87 points or 0.48 percent to close at 27,289.70 points with total daily trading volumes of 234.152 million shares.

Foreign investors remained net buyers of shares worth $2.174 million. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 19 billion to Rs 10.612 trillion. Out of total 446 active scrips, 194 closed in negative and 188 in positive while the value of 64 stocks remained unchanged.

Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 29.276 million shares and gained Rs 0.13 to close at Rs 5.53 followed by PIA Holding Company that increased by Rs 1.52 to close at Rs 18.46 with 26.706 million shares. Pak Elektron lost Rs 0.23 to close at Rs 26.52 with 26.512 million shares.

Unilever Pakistan Foods and Philip Morris Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 96.14 and Rs 54.43 respectively to close at Rs 18,258.64 and Rs 718.14 while Nestle Pakistan and Pakistan Engineering Company were the top losers declining by Rs 60.02 and Rs 22.54, respectively to close at Rs 7000.39 and Rs 650.00.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan’s equity market experienced a mixed day. Profit-taking was observed and the index settled the day at 80,283 points, reflecting a gain of 49 points or 0.06 percent.

Key contributors to the market’s performance were the Cement, Banks, Food, and Exploration sectors, led by companies like LUCK, FABL, MEBL, NATF, and POL, collectively adding 147 points to the index.

BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 51.97 points or 0.31 percent to close at 16,981.39 points with total turnover of 7.913 million shares.

BR Cement Index increased by 55.42 points or 0.7 percent to close at 7,923.02 points with 24.968 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index added 30.0 points or 0.13 percent to close at 22,828.74 points with 82.817 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 114.73 points or 0.57 percent to close at 19,898.63 points with 27.898 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 3.94 points or 0.06 percent to close at 6,804.31 points with 47.465 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 4,015.10 points, up 3.86 points or 0.1 percent with 54.546 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed higher as investor weigh IMF staff level agreement in weeks after MoF hints over addressing all federal budget requirements for bailout. Midsession pressure remained on reports of FTSE Russel reclassifying to Frontier Market status in conjunction with the FTSE Global Equity Index Series and the FTSE Frontier Index Series September 2024 index reviews, and weakening rupee.

He said speculations for SOEs strong corporate payouts and deliberations over privatisation played a catalyst role for new record close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024