The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index closed marginally higher in a range-bound trading session on Thursday.
At close, the index settled at 72,658.05, up by 56.24 points or 0.08%.
Brokerage house Capital Stake said indices swung high and low before finally closing flat and volume also shrank in contrast to the previous session.
On Wednesday, a bearish sentiment prevailed at the PSX as KSE-100 ended with a loss of nearly 160 points amid higher volume that was dominated by WorldCall Telecom.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 674.98 million on Thursday from 970.32 million a session ago.
Another brokerage house Topline Securities said that Thursday’s session was a mix of ups and downs, with the index reaching an intra-day high of 287.98 points (up by 0.40%) and an intraday low of -276.46 points (down by 0.38%).
The positive momentum in the index was mainly driven by contributions from TRG, SRVI, SYS, DGKC, and SEARL, collectively adding 115 points. Conversely, ENGRO, FFC, EFERT, BAHL, and HUBC collectively dragged the index down by 170 points, it added.
Investor interest was notably seen in the technology sector, with HUMNL (+11%), OCTOPUS (+7.50%), TRG (+6.66%), and AVN (+3.98%) closing higher than their previous day’s values, according to the brokerage house.
In a key development on Thursday, the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the country’s largest oil marketer, said it was in talks with the government on a plan to acquire stakes in public sector energy companies and offset mounting debt it is owed by firms such as the national airline.
Also, Arif Habib Corporation Limited (AHCL), one of Pakistan’s leading business groups, clarified that submitting an expression of interest as well as the Statement of Qualification (SOQ) for the purchase of a majority stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) does not imply that it has become a bidder yet.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal decline, depreciating 0.04% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the local unit settled at 278.20, a fall of Re0.10 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.
The value of shares increased to Rs24.05 billion from Rs23.51 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 175.15 million shares, followed by Pak Elektron with 40.24 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 31.25 million shares.
Shares of 376 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 218 registered an increase, 126 recorded a fall, while 32 remained unchanged.
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