KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday witnessed bullish trend and closed on positive note due to fresh buying mainly by local investors coupled with institutional support.
The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 365.82 points or 0.47 percent and crossed 79,000 psychological level to close at 79,017.62 points. During the session, the index hit 79,217.62 points intra-day high however closed at lower level due to profit taking in some stocks.
Trading activities also improved as total daily volumes on ready counter increased to 584.276 million shares as compared to 532.732 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 16.364 billion against previous session’s Rs 14.735 billion.
BRIndex100 added 65.61 points or 0.79 percent to close at 8,377.06 points with total daily turnover of 471.705 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 201.2 points or 0.75 percent to close at 27,115.28 points with total daily trading volumes of 317.434 million shares.
The foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $703,841. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 36 billion to Rs 10.506 trillion. Out of total 439 active scrips, 212 closed in positive and 167 in negative while the value of 60 stocks remained unchanged.
Kohinoor Spining was the volume leader with 60.745 million shares however declined by Re 0.85 to close at Rs 8.87 followed by WorldCall Telecom that lost Re 0.07 to close at Rs 1.43 with 57.978 million shares. TPL Properties increased by Re 1.00 to close at Rs 9.35 with 32.499 million shares.
Pakistan Tobacco Company and Unilever Pakistan Foods were the top gainers increasing by Rs 49.07 and Rs 48.00 respectively to close at Rs 918.78 and Rs 17,440.00 while Mari Petroleum Company and Pakistan Engineering Company were the top losers declining by Rs 83.34 and Rs 37.77 respectively to close at Rs 3,502.86 and Rs 872.00.
In contrast to Wednesday’s trend, Pakistan equities opened on a bullish note ahead of the key Monetary Policy Meeting, scheduled for announcement later in the evening, an analyst at Topline Securities said. The KSE-100 index sustained positive momentum throughout the session, closing at 79,017 points, marking a gain of 365.82 points (up 0.47 percent).
Broad-based buying was observed in blue-chip stocks, driven by widespread market expectations of a 100-150 basis points reduction in interest rates, backed by declining inflation and improved macroeconomic indicators.
Key heavyweights such as UBL, FFC, FCCL, OGDC, and HUBC posted significant gains, collectively contributing to a notable 236-point rise.
Investor sentiment remained particularly strong in the Cement Sector, with heightened expectations surrounding the upcoming monetary policy decision later on Thursday, where a rate cut was widely anticipated. Cement stocks like FCCL (up 4.77 percent), MLCF (up 4.45 percent), DGKC (up 2.20 percent), and CHCC (up 2.14 percent) all closed higher compared to the previous day.
BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 17.7 points or 0.1 percent to close at 17,175.91 points with total turnover of 5.063 million shares.
BR Cement Index surged by 79.76 points or 1.02 percent to close at 7,899.54 points with 55.420 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index added 89.49 points or 0.41 percent to close at 21,869.57 points with 20.079 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 127.23 points or 0.7 percent to close at 18,369.00 points with 20.381 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 3.3 points of 0.05 percent to close at 7,190.15 points with 13.910 million shares.
BR Tech & Comm. Index closed at 4,008.89 points, up 14.76 points or 0.37 percent with 138.067 million shares.
Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said the market opened on a positive note, investor interest was seen due to expectations of monetary easing. KSE-100 index eventually closed the day at 79,018, gaining 366 points. Post session, interest rates were reduced by 200bps by the SBP MPC.
Major contributors to the total traded volume of 584 million shares included KOSM (down 8.7 percent), WTL (down 4.7 percent), TPLP (up 12 percent), TPL (up 19.5 percent) and AGL (down 5.5 percent).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024