KSE-100 extends gains as tensions with US alleviate

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended the upward trend for a second session on Wednesday and the KSE-100 index rose 0.92% as alleviation of tensions between Pakistan and US following President Joe Biden’s remarks helped steer buying at the equity market.

Last week, Biden said that Pakistan may be one of the most dangerous nations in the world as it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion.” However, the US controlled the situation and said on Tuesday that Washington sought a strong partnership with Pakistan to counter global and regional terrorism and also has confidence in its ability to defend its nuclear assets.

By the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index rose 386.78 points or 0.92% to close at 42,226.05.

KSE-100 closes marginally upward in lacklustre session

Trading began with a spike and the KSE-100 Index rose throughout the day. The trend turned flat in the final hour however, the market closed with gain. All index heavy sectors recorded modest gains and closed in the green.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that a positive session was witnessed at the PSX.

The market traded in the green zone throughout the day as the trade deficit of Pakistan witnessed a sharp decline of 30.16% on a year-on-year basis.

“Investors’ participation remained active in the mainboard as third tier stocks continued to remain as volume board leaders,” the statement said.

A report from Capital Stake cited that bulls appeared victorious at the PSX on Wednesday.

“Indices accumulated gains all day long whereas volumes surged from previous close,” it said. “Analysts attributed the upward trend to higher crude oil prices and US government’s positive statement on the protection of Pakistan’s nuclear assets.”

On the economic front, large-scale manufacturing index (LSMI) output increased by 0.6% for August 2022 when compared with August 2021 and 3.9% when compared with July 2022.

Moreover, rupee depreciated 0.53% or Rs1.17 in the inter-bank market on Wednesday to close at 220.88.

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 Index in green included banking (66.42 points), cement (66.17 points), and oil and gas exploration (62.89 points).

Volume on the all-share index rose to 250.3 million from 190.3 million on Tuesday. Similarly, the value of shares traded rose to Rs6.65 billion from Rs5.8 billion recorded in the previous session.

G3 Technologies was the volume leader with 22.4 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 21.2 million shares and G3 Technologies Class B with 14.8 million shares

Shares of 342 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 203 registered an increase, 115 recorded a fall, and 24 remained unchanged.