KARACHI: A positive trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday due to fresh buying in various sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index increased by 161.95 points or 0.39 percent and closed at 41,487.58 points. The index hit 41,653.16 points intraday high and 41,295.05 points intraday low level.

Trading activity however remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 89.474 million shares as compared to 96.850 million shares traded on Thursday. Daily traded value on ready counter increased to Rs 3.401 billion against previous session’s Rs 2.891 billion.

BRIndex100 gained 9.25 points or 0.22 percent to close at 4,194.99 points with total daily turnover of 78.060 million shares.

BRIndex30 inched up by 3.05 points or 0.02 percent to close at 14,521.18 points with total daily trading volumes of 55.850 million shares.

Foreign investors also remained net buyers of shares worth $104,790. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 23 billion to Rs 6.212 trillion. Out of total 308 active scrips, 174 closed in positive and 107 in negative while the value of 27 stocks remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 9.548 million shares and closed at previous session’s closing level of Rs 1.14 without any change followed by Maple Leaf Cement that gained Rs 0.11 to close at Rs 28.11 with 5.407 million shares. SNGP inched up by Rs 0.24 to close at Rs 42.12 with 4.164 million shares.

Nestle Pakistan and Sapphire Fiber were the top gainers increasing by Rs 100.00 and Rs 75.23 respectively to close at Rs 5800.00 and Rs 1078.99 while Bhanero Textile and ZIL Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 70.77 and Rs 24.75 respectively to close at Rs 1060.00 and Rs 305.25.

“A positive session was recorded at the PSX to end the business week,” an analyst at Arif Habib Limited. The market opened in the green, with investors waiting for the Supreme Court’s verdict on the former prime minister’s petition. However, once the session reopened, clarity prevailed on the political front as the IHC approved the bail petition. Investor activity was variable, while main-board volumes remained respectable.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (up 57.7 points), Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos. / Securities Cos. (up 57.9 points), Paper & Board (up 12.9 points), Food & Personal Care Products (up 11.3 points) and OMCs (up 9.3 points).

BR Automobile Assembler Index added 19.22 points or 0.26 percent to close at 7,443.10 points with total turnover of 816,035 shares.

BR Cement Index increased by 58.07 points or 1.37 percent to close at 4,307.13 points with 14.968 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index gained 5.37 points or 0.06 percent to close at 8,827.86 points with 8.762 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index inched up by 3.31 points or 0.04 percent to close at 7,455.39 points with 4.803 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index lost 10.1 points or 0.26 percent to close at 3,823.44 points with 13.926 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,841.61 points, up 6.49 points or 0.17 percent with 15.297 million shares.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that a rangebound session was observed at the exchange as the index traded between its intraday high of plus 324 points and intraday low of minus 26points to finally close at 41,488 level, up by 0.39 percent.

DAWH, LUCK, PKGS, CHCC and SYS positively contributed plus 116 points to the index, on the flip side OGDC, PPL, BAHL, UBL and HBL lost value to weigh down on the index by 43 points.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

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