PSX witnesses uptick

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a volatile session on Thursday but managed to close on a positive note.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index slightly increased by 34.43 points to settle at 117,806.75 points on Thursday compared to 117,772.31 points on Wednesday. The daily volumes at the ready counter also declined to 330 million shares down from 356 million shares in the previous session. Similarly, the total traded value on the ready counter fell to Rs 19.77 billion, compared to Rs 37.49 billion in the last session.

On Thursday, BRIndex100 opened at 12,604.40 points and finally closed at 12,612.96 points, which was 8.56 points or 0.07 percent higher than previous close. Total volume at BRIndex100 was 268.437 million shares. BRIndex30 increased by 33.67 points or 0.09 percent to settle at 39,320.12 points, with a total volume of 191.241 million shares.

The market capitalization rose by Rs 10 billion to reach Rs 14.374 trillion. Out of 447 active scrips, 169 closed in positive and 216 in negative while the value of 62 stocks remained unchanged.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said that stocks closed flat amid surge in Govt treasury bond yields up to 12.38pc and subdued economic growth data at 1.7pc for the quarter Oct-Dec’24, falling short 3.6pc Govt target growth for 2024-5. Reports of IMF approval on industrial tariff reduction, and institutional support on IMF deal at the quarter end close played a catalyst role in bullish close at PSX, he added.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 45.5 million shares and closed at Rs 8.26 followed by Arif Habib Corp that closed at Rs 11.58 with 20.5 million shares. WorldCall Telecom ranked third with share trading of 16.2 million shares and it closed at Rs 1.32.

Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited and Hoechst Pakistan Limited were the top gainers increasing by Rs 73.78 and Rs 48.63 respectively to close at Rs 811.55 and Rs 3,242.50, while Sapphire Fibres Limited and Premium Textile Mills Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 20.39 and Rs 18.88 respectively to close at Rs 1,101.00 and Rs 420.51.

Analysts said that range-bound activity with thin volumes was observed on the last trading day ahead of the long Eid holidays, as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines. The benchmark KSE-100 index moved within a narrow range of 118,147 points (+375) and 117,551 points (- 221), eventually closing with an increase of 34 points.

BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 21,787.13, gaining 97.82 points or 0.45 percent with a total turnover of 5.535 million shares. BR Cement Index settled at 13,241.63, rising 37.94 points or 0.29 percent with a turnover of 36.341 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index ended at 31,273.25, advancing 271.11 points or 0.87 percent with a turnover of 27.378 million shares. BR Power Generation & Distribution Index closed at 20,492.05, climbing 199.32 points 0.98 percent with a turnover of 25 million shares.

BR Oil & Gas Index declined to 12,602.47, losing 36.82 points or 0.29 percent with a turnover of 27.385 million shares. BR Technology & Communication Index dropped to 5,071.50, down 82 points or 1.59 percent with a turnover of 36.6.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025