Investors cheer positive triggers as KSE-100 up 1.12%

Positive sentiment prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 Index registered a gain of over 500 points, with both volume and value of shares traded improving markedly from the last session.

At close on Tuesday, the index finished with an increase of 503.95 points or 1.12% to end at 45,390.84.

“Investors cheered the statement from Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin as he stated that a delay of two to four days in the approval of Finance Supplementary Bill, 2021 would not be an issue for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme,” said Topline Securities in its post-market comment.

Talking to reporters after launching the tax directory of Parliamentarians for tax year 2019 at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday, Tarin had stated that if the approval of the finance bill is delayed for two or four days, there would be no issue.

A date of January 12 has been fixed with the IMF and it should not be any problem for the Fund to extend it for two or four days, the finance minister stated.

KSE-100 opens 2022 with 0.65% gain, closes near 44,900 level

On the economic front, Pakistan’s local cement sales declined by 2.40% on a year-on-year basis while exports fell by 15.67% compared with the same period last year. On a month-on-month basis, domestic cement sales decreased by 1.46% while exports were down by 22.70%.

Sectors driving the benchmark higher included technology and communication (109.59 points), oil and gas exploration (60.03 points) and cement (56.61 points).

Volume increased, clocking in at 375.99 million on the all-share index, up from 195.17 million on Monday. The value of shares traded increased significantly to Rs12.78 billion, up from Rs6.52 billion.

Unity Foods Limited (R3) was the volume leader with 25.72 million shares, followed by TRG Pakistan Limited with 23.02 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 22.06 million shares.

Shares of 376 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 266 registered an increase, 86 recorded a fall, and 24 remained unchanged.