KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its upward trend and hit new highest levels on the back of aggressive buying by local and foreign investors coupled with institutional support.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed 81,000 points psychological level for the first time in its history to hit 81,087.43 points intraday highest-ever level, however, it failed to sustain this trend and dropped at 80,530.86 points intraday low due to profit-taking in some stocks. The index closed at its new highest level of 80,672.06 points, with a net gain of 105.86 points or 0.13 percent.
Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 610.264 million shares as compared to 261.649 million shares traded on Monday. The daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 24.317 billion against previous session’s Rs 13.024 billion.
BRIndex100 inched up by 24.02 points or 0.28 percent to close at 8,599.04 points with total daily turnover of 527.416 million shares.
BRIndex30 added 150.29 points or 0.55 percent to close at 27,611.95 points with total daily trading volumes of 397.790 million shares.
Foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $249,936. The market capitalization increased by Rs 65 billion to Rs 10.741 trillion. Out of total 450 active scrips, 216 closed in positive and 190 in negative while the value of 44 stocks remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 51.026 million shares and gained Rs 0.18 to close at Rs 4.91 followed by Bank of Punjab that inched up by Rs 0.14 to close at Rs 5.93 with 43.339 million shares. WorldCall Telecom lost Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 1.24 with 40.773 million shares.
Sazgar Engineering Works and Unilever Pakistan Foods were the top gainers increasing by Rs 94.89 and Rs 89.99, respectively to close at Rs 1,093.78 and Rs 18,289.99 while Rafhan Maize Products Company and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 73.00 and Rs 55.19 respectively to close at Rs 7,616.11 and Rs 6,999.96.
An analyst at Topline Securities said Pakistan’s equity market exhibited a mixed pattern. The KSE-100 Index surged to an intraday peak of 81,087 points before settling at 80,672 points, reflecting a modest gain of 106 points or 0.13 percent.
Leading the market’s positive momentum were the Fertilizer, Exploration & Production (E&P), and Textile sectors, bolstered by companies like FFC, POL, ILP, EFERT, and FFBL, collectively contributing plus 183 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index surged by 531.15 points or 3.05 percent to close at 17,956.31 points with total turnover of 27.069 million shares.
BR Cement Index increased by 51.29 points or 0.65 percent to close at 7,992.37 points with 56.826 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index declined by 175.15 points or 0.75 percent to close at 23,167.59 points with 92.236 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index decreased by 105.46 points or 0.53 percent to close at 19,774.93 points with 59.302 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index gained 20.85 points or 0.31 percent to close at 6,793.82 points with 26.679 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index added 24.26 points or 0.61 percent to close at 3,993.54 points with 125.729 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed all-time high amid speculations in the earnings season at PSX led by selected oil and banking scrips on expectation of high dividend payouts.
He said investors’ expectations for resolution to $15 billion China energy debt restructuring ahead of IMF new bailout deal, and Government deliberations over privatisation of ailing SOEs played a catalyst role in bullish close.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024