KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 Index increased by 54 percent in Pak rupee terms (23 percent in USD) after many years in 2023, with only one trading session left.

The market value (market capitalization) of listed companies at PSX also increased by 39 percent, reaching Rs 9.0 trillion.

Refinery, Chemicals and Power Generation sectors were the best performing sectors in 2023 as their market cap increased by 88 percent, 73 percent, and 65 percent respectively, an analysis report of Topline Securities said.. On the other hand, Property, Modarabas, and Textile Spinning sectors remained the worst performing sectors posting decline of 24 percent, 11 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively in 2023, the report added.

Refinery sector posted a strong performance, driven by expectations of the finalization of the refinery policy, where Pakistan Refinery (PRL) has already signed a contract. Attock Refinery (ATRL) market cap was up by 131 percent followed by PRL up 130 percent, National Refinery (NRL) up 86 percent and Cnergyico PK (CNERGY) up 40 percent in 2023.

Chemical Sector also posted a strong performance, led by Colgate-Palmolive, which announced Bonus Shares of 145 percent, leading to a 147 percent increase in Market Cap in 2023.

Power generation performance was led by rally in Hub Power (HUBC) with its Market Cap up 88 percent and also K-Electric (KEL) saw an 76 percent increase in Market Cap in 2023.

For this analysis, 35 sectors have been taken out of the total 37 as defined by PSX, excluding Exchange Traded Funds and Closed-End Mutual Funds.

“We have also adjusted for new listings, including Symmetry Group (SYM), which obtained listing through an IPO, followed by Treet Battery (TBL), LSE Proptech (LSEPL), LSE Ventures (LSEVL), and B. R. R. Guardian (BRRG), all of which gained listings through mergers.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023