KSE-100 settles just shy of 46,000 after 522-point increase

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw bullish momentum on Friday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended with a gain of 522 points, settling just shy of the 46,000 level.

At close, the KSE-100 Index finished at 45,920.73 after an increase of 1.15% or 522.42 points.

Across-the-board buying was witnessed among index-heavy sectors including automobile assembler, chemical, commercial banks, refinery, oil & gas exploration companies and OMCs, while pharmaceutical, sugar and allied sector registered losses.

Experts attributed the bullish sentiment to an improved foreign exchange reserves position this week, following disbursements of funds from both multilateral and bilateral institutions.

“The foreign exchange reserves’ position has improved significantly, driving positive sentiment among investors,” Sana Tawfik, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), told Business Recorder.

“Moreover, the corporate sector’s result season has begun on a positive note, following UBL results. Similar announcements from other companies are expected.”

She said the market also anticipates further inflows from other financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank in the coming days.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) surged $4.2 billion, clocking in at nearly $8.73 billion as of July 14, data released on Thursday showed.

“During the week ended July 14, 2023, SBP received $2.0 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, $1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and $1.0 billion from the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” the SBP said in a statement.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $14.07 billion.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 504.55 million from 464.23 million on Thursday. The value of shares traded increased to Rs12.01 billion from Rs10.1 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom remained the volume leader with 106.5 million shares followed by Fauji Foods with 44.28 million shares and Cnergyico PK with 35.91 million shares.

Shares of 339 companies were traded on Friday, of which 197 registered an increase, 121 recorded a fall and 21 remained unchanged.