Some clarity on the political front and the ongoing results' season boosted investor sentiment at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 index gained over 300 points, while volume and value of shares traded improved from the last session.
However, the index still closed lower than its intra-day gain. The KSE-100 had earlier hit an intra-day high of 40,628.67, up by 656.03 points. The benchmark index eventually settled at 40,276.64, an increase of 304 points or 0.76%, at close on Thursday.
"A couple of corporate announcements with higher effective tax along with below street expectation payout put pressure on the benchmark index," said Topline Securities in a post-market note.
On Wednesday, the KSE-100 had settled with a marginal gain of 78.59 points or 0.20% to close at 39,972.64, as uncertain economic conditions kept investors at bay.
However, on Tuesday the Supreme Court declared Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as duly-elected Chief Minister of Punjab in consequence of the runoff election held on July 22.
“Clarity on the political front has been taken as a positive development,” Sana Tawfik, analyst at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), told Business Recorder.
“Furthermore, the ongoing results' season has rekindled investor interest in the bourse, driving up stocks,” Tawfik said.
The analyst was of the view that the positive sentiment is expected to prevail in the coming days, and could be boosted by news from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve raised the policy rate by 75 bps in an effort to cool the most intense breakout of inflation since the 1980s.
“The Fed rate hike has created positive sentiments in the international equity markets, which is being reflected domestically as well,” she added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's rupee maintained its downward trajectory against the US dollar with the currency closing at 239.94 in the inter-bank market on Thursday.
On the corporate front, HBL on Thursday declared a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs12.1 billion for H12022.
Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 upwards included banking (158.01 points), technology and communication (96.16 points) and oil and gas marketing (61.01 points).
Volume on the all-share index inched up to 251.27 million from 121.58 million on Wednesday. Similarly, the value of shares traded improved to Rs9.35 billion from Rs4.15 billion recorded in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 32.62 million shares, followed by TPL Properties Limited with 20.38 million shares, and Lotte Chemical with 16.95 million shares.
Shares of 344 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 215 registered an increase, 104 recorded a fall, and 25 remained unchanged.
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