KSE-100 rises 0.52% ahead of budget announcement

Ahead of the budget 2023-24 announcement, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned optimistic and the KSE-100 Index climbed 0.52%.

After the closing hours of the market, the government of Pakistan announced budget for fiscal year 2023-24.

At close, the KSE-100 Index was at 41,904.21, an increase of 217.75 points or 0.52%.

KSE-100 plunges over 450 points amid uncertainty on upcoming budget

The index ticked up as soon as trading began but it closed first session flat owing to uncertainty. The second session began with a buying spree and the index closed with a gain.

Despite the positivity, index heavy automobile, chemical, banking, fertiliser and oil sectors closed mixed.

A report from Capital Stake cited that the PSX changed its course, ending last session of the week on a positive note.

“Indices traded in green for most part of the day while volumes dropped from last close,” it said. “Investors kept their hopes up with regards to the budget.”

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that the week concluded with a positive session at the PSX.

The market opened in the green and maintained the sentiment throughout both sessions.

“In expectations of favourable outcomes from the upcoming budget, investors chose to add value to their portfolios by cherry picking stocks,” it said. “Investors remained active throughout the day as the bourse finished in the green.”

The report underlined that substantial volumes were observed across the board, with third-tier equities being in the spotlight.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 index north included technology and communication limited (74.38 points), chemical (53.53 points) and textile composite (29.69 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 164.8 million from 203.8 million on Thursday, while the value of shares traded declined to Rs5.2 billion from Rs5.8 billion recorded in the previous session.

TPL Properties was the volume leader with 19.5 million shares followed by Unity Foods with 14 million shares and WorldCall Telecom with 13.4 million shares.

Shares of 340 companies were traded on Friday, of which 187 registered an increase, 126 recorded a fall and 27 remained unchanged.