KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday witnessed a mixed trend and after moving in both directions, closed on slightly positive note due to fresh buying in some stocks.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 82,360.29 points intraday high and 81,529.45 points intraday low before closing at 81,967.01 points, up 162.41 points or 0.20 percent.

Trading activity slightly improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 360.987 million shares as compared to 359.081 million shares traded on Tuesday. The daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 15.391 billion against previous session’s Rs 17.160 billion.

BRIndex100 gained 10.26 points or 0.12 percent to close at 8,609.87 points with total daily turnover of 295.673 million shares.

BRIndex30 lost 100.00 points or 0.38 percent to close at 26,047.21 points with total daily trading volumes of 160.222 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained on the selling side and withdrew $5.364 million from the local equity market. The market capitalization increased by Rs 20 billion to Rs 10.732 trillion. Out of total 448 active scrips, 221 closed in negative and 164 in positive while the value of 63 stocks remained unchanged.

Agha Steel was the volume leader with 30.832 million shares however lost Rs 0.07 to close at Rs 10.72 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at Rs 1.21, down Rs 0.03 with 26.473 million shares. Fauji Cement gained Rs 0.79 to close at Rs 27.41 with 20.045 million shares.

Rafhan Maize Products Company and Unilever Pakistan Foods were the top gainers increasing by Rs 187.57 and Rs 25.80, respectively to close at Rs 6,999.00 and Rs 17,295.80 while Hoechst Pakistan and Lucky Core Industries were the top losers declining by Rs 48.14 and Rs 28.86 respectively to close at Rs 2,010.03 and Rs 1,021.90.

An analyst at Topline Securities said the KSE-100 Index closed at 81,967, up 162 points or 0.20 percent. The session saw significant volatility, peaking at 82,360 and dipping to 81,529, largely due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The index was primarily driven by UBL, FFC, MCB, ENGRO, and PKGP, which together contributed plus 270 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index declined by 177.72 points or 1.04 percent to close at 16,977.13 points with total turnover of 4.847 million shares.

BR Cement Index lost 32.19 points or 0.4 percent to close at 8,083.27 points with 42.929 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 212.09 points or 0.92 percent to close at 23,304.37 points with 14.725 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index decreased by 168.11 points or 1.01 percent to close at 16,523.56 points with 21.710 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 2.45 points or 0.03 percent to close at 7,598.04 points with 18.243 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,851.60 points, down 3.09 points or 0.08 percent with 54.197 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed higher amid falling inflation on rupee stability, fall in global prices and agri growth.

He said S&P projection over rate cut of 200bps by FY25, 20 percent rise in POL sales in September 2024, surge in global crude oil prices played a catalytic role in bullish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024