KSE-100 closes near 44,600 after 378-point gain

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off the week on a positive note with the benchmark KSE-100 Index registering another gain, this time of over 377 points on Monday.

The volume and value of shares traded also recorded a significant improvement from the previous session.

Across-the-board buying was witnessed the index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, and OMCs, however, insurance and oil and gas exploration companies witnessed losses.

The index saw an improvement throughout the trading session.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 44,585.13, an increase of 377.82 points or 0.85%.

Experts said improvement in remittance inflows and expected approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board, which is scheduled to meet on July 12, has helped investor confidence.

On the economic front, Fitch Ratings upgraded Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC’ from ‘CCC-’ as the country managed to clinch a ‘last-minute’ staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Sectors driving the benchmark index upwards included banking (135.31 points), food and personal care products (35.75 points) and refinery (30.91 points).

Volume on the all-share index rose to 440.2 million from 247.9 million on Friday, while the value of shares traded improved to Rs12 billion from Rs8.5 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 28.2 million shares followed by JS Bank (R) with 27.9 million shares and Unity Foods Limited with 20.6 million shares.

Shares of 342 companies were traded on Monday, of which 238 registered an increase, 82 recorded a fall and 22 remained unchanged.