KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its bullish trend and hit new historic highest-ever level on Tuesday on the back of aggressive buying, mainly by local investors coupled with institutional support.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 861.00 points or 0.91 percent and closed at its highest-ever level of 95,856.67 points. The index crossed 96,000 crucial level for the first time in its history to hit 96,036.49 points intraday highest-ever level however closed at slightly lower level due to profit-taking in some stocks.

Trading activity also improved as total daily volumes on ready counter increased to 830.931 million shares as compared to 765.206 million shares traded on Monday while total daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 30.019 billion against previous session’s Rs 23.924 billion.

BRIndex100 soared by 72.71 points or 0.72 percent to close at 10,184.26 points with total daily turnover of 665.236 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 214.95 points or 0.69 percent to close at 31,402.67 points with total daily trading volumes of 390.798 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained on the selling side and withdrew $8.807 million from the local equity market. The market capitalization increased by Rs 99 billion to Rs 12.332 trillion. Out of total 460 active scrips, 249 closed in positive and 156 in negative while the value of 55 stocks remained unchanged.

Hascol Petroleum was the volume leader with 60.058 million shares and increased by Rs 1.00 to close at Rs 10.24 followed by K-Electric that inched up by Rs 0.07 to close at Rs 5.24 with 44.488 million shares. Cnergyico PK gained Rs 0.13 to close at Rs 4.64 with 42.303 million shares.

Rafhan Maize Products Company and Abbott Laboratories Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 120.10 and Rs 70.20 respectively to close at Rs 8,004.60 and Rs 1,070.86 while PIA Holding Company LimitedB and Unilever Pakistan Foods were the top losers declining by Rs 59.37 and Rs 32.50 respectively to close at Rs 840.61 and Rs 19,117.50.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index demonstrated exceptional bullish momentum, soaring to an all-time high of 96,036.

The market opened on a positive note, buoyed by expectations of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) falling within the 4.5 percent to 5.0 percent YoY range. Notably, this marks the first time in 78 months that inflation is anticipated to drop below 5 percent.

SYS (up 8.59 percent) from the technology sector drew considerable investor interest after the announcement that OneZapp, a subsidiary of Systems Limited., had officially secured approval from the State Bank of Pakistan to commence commercial operations as an Electronic Money Institute.

The pharmaceutical sector continued its upward trajectory, with AGP, BFBIO, FEROZ, and ABOT all closing higher than their previous sessions, extending their recent rally.

Key contributors to the index’s upward movement included SYS, UBL, ABOT, PSO, and EFERT, collectively adding 484 points to the index. BR Automobile Assembler Index inched up by 4.98 points or 0.03 percent to close at 19,225.63 points with total turnover of 3.927 million shares.

BR Cement Index decreased by 37.94 points or 0.37 percent to close at 10,235.21 points with 28.215 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index soared by 157.42 points or 0.62 percent to close at 25,410.76 points with 32.035 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 3.15 points or 0.02 percent to close at 16,326.54 points with 51.529 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index added 52.55 points or 0.54 percent to close at 9,735.07 points with 117.230 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index increased by 247.45 points or 5.34 percent to close at 4,885.30 points with 115.879 million shares.

Mubashir Anis Naviwala at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 Index surged to an all-time high of 95,857, closing with an impressive gain of 861 points.

Significant investor interest was evident, particularly in the pharma, E&P, and Fertilizer sectors. Among the top volume leaders were HASCOL, KEL, CNERGY, KOSM and PTC.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024