KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday witnessed a mixed trend due to investors’ lack of interest on prevailing political and economic situation in the country.
The market opened under pressure, however fresh buying in second half of the session supported the market to close on a positive note.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index increased by 230.85 points or 0.56 percent and closed at its intraday high of 41,718.43 points. The index hit 41,310.19 points intra-day low.
Trading activity improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 109.172 million shares as compared to 89.474 million shares traded on last Friday. However, daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 3.370 billion against previous session’s Rs 3.401 billion.
BRIndex100 gained 20.97 points or 0.5 percent to close at 4,215.96 points with total daily turnover of 97.611 million shares.
BRIndex30 added 33.89 points or 0.23 percent to close at 14,555.07 points with total daily trading volumes of 76.805 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $256,283. The market capitalization increased by Rs 14 billion to Rs 6.226 trillion. Out of total 311 active scrips, 143 closed in positive and 139 in negative while the value of 29 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 16.946 million shares and inched up by Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 1.16 followed by Telecard Limited that gained Rs 0.55 to close at Rs 7.30 with 11.162 million shares. Hum Network closed at Rs 5.89, up Rs 0.53 with 7.501 million shares.
Sapphire Fiber and Blessed Textile were the top gainers increasing by Rs 80.01 and Rs 24.30 respectively to close at Rs 1159.00 and Rs 349.30 while Bhanero Textile and Reliance Cotton were the top losers declining by Rs 79.00 and Rs 45.00 respectively to close at Rs 981.00 and Rs 555.00.
“To begin the week, the PSX witnessed a range-bound day,” an analyst at Arif Habib Limited said. Following the country’s prevailing political upheaval, the benchmark KSE-100 Index opened in the negative zone, but managed to close Positive. Investor engagement has remained modest as investors await political clarity. Volumes on the main-board remained erratic, with third-tier equities continuing to lead the volume board.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Fertilizer (up 78.7 points), Commercial Banks (up 35.0 points), Technology & Communication (up 24.4 points), Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos. / Securities Cos. (+23.7pts) and Chemical (up 21.9 points).
BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 62.45 points or 0.84 percent to close at 7,505.55 points with total turnover of 1.396 million shares.
BR Cement Index gained 14.80 points or 0.34 percent to close at 4,321.93 points with 9.770 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 37.17 points or 0.42 percent to close at 8,865.03 points with 8.498 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index added 52.25 points or 0.7 percent to close at 7,507.64 points with 4.614 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index lost 9.56 points or 0.25 percent to close at 3,813.88 points with 12.924 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,879.78 points, up 38.17 points or 0.99 percent with 42.899 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed higher as investor weigh the rupee recovery and the IMF affirmation to support and no further financing condition to arrange for bailout agreement.
He said investor speculations in the pre-budget session played a catalyst role in bullish close.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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