KSE-100 rises 0.11% in turbulent session

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a turbulent session on Thursday and the KSE-100 Index managed to close with meagre gain of 0.11% after a selling spell wiped off most of the gains.

Weakening macroeconomic cues and lack of positive triggers to give a direction to the market restrained it from posting lofty increase.

KSE-100 closes range-bound session with marginal loss

At close on Thursday, the KSE-100 finished with an increase of 45.69 points or 0.11% to settle at 40,803.89.

The market kicked off the day on a positive note and rose till mid-afternoon after which selling pressure dragged it lower. Nevertheless, the KSE-100 Index managed to close in green.

Automobile, cement and banking sectors closed with gains while oil space saw selloff and ended the day entirely in the red.

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

“The market opened in the green and went on to reach an intraday high of 461.47 points before trading in the same range for the remainder of the day,” it said. “However, during the final trading hour, investors chose to book profits on their positions, dragging the index down.”

Volumes remained robust across the board, however, the exploration and production and cement sectors remained in the limelight.

A report from Capital Stake stated that PSX closed another volatile session on Thursday flat.

“Indices traded in green for most part of the day until finally closing flat while volumes fell from previous close,” it said.

On the economic front, a total of 13,768 units were sold by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) members in the month of December 2022 compared to 24,471 units in same period last year.

Pakistan’s rupee registered a decline against the US dollar for the 17th successive session, depreciating Re0.21 or 0.09% to 228.14.

Sectors lifting the benchmark KSE-100 Index higher included miscellaneous (72.67 points), cement (41.79 points) and chemical (18.74 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 175.4 million from 189.4 million on Wednesday. The value of shares traded fell to Rs5.89 billion from Rs6.98 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 12.6 million shares, followed by Pak Refinery with 9.8 million shares, and Al Shaheer (R) with 8.9 million shares.

Shares of 326 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 165 registered an increase, 140 recorded a fall, and 21 remained unchanged.