Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) failed to benefit from the decision of the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which approved a $700 million tranche for the country, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining only 20.07 (0.03 percent) to close at 64,637.63 points.

The market opened on a positive note and gained around 732 points during the first hour of trading. When the first session of the day concluded, the benchmark index eroded its gains to 475.68 points. However, the bulls failed to sustain momentum in the second session after the market turned volatile, switching between the red and green territories and finally closing with a minor gain.

According to experts, the intraday upward trend and surge in investor confidence was backed by the decision of the IMF’s executive board which concluded the first review of Pakistan’s $3-billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and approved a $700 million tranche for the country. They added that political uncertainty in the country and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East kept the investors cautious and a profit-taking was witnessed due to these reasons too.

The benchmark index traded in a range of 865.77 points, showing an intraday high of 65,356.85 points and an intraday low of 64,491.08 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 29.46 points (+0.07 percent) to close at 43,740.13 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 15.79 points (+0.05 percent) to close at 32,061.29 points.

Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 37.82 million shares to 402.91 million shares against 365.09 million traded in the previous session. Similarly, the overall market volumes increased by 56.76 million shares to 643.31 million shares against 586.55 million shares traded a session earlier.

Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 142.51 million shares (over 22 percent of total traded volumes), followed by PIBTL (77.95 million) and WTL (27 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, PIBTL, WTL, PIAA, and PPL, which formed over 46 percent of total volumes.

A total of 363 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 358 in the previous session, out of which shares of 135 closed up, shares of 216 companies closed down while shares of 12 companies remained unchanged. A total of 95 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against the same number of companies in the previous session, out of which share prices of 41 companies closed up, 52 companies closed down and two remained unchanged.

The number of total trades increased to 211,667 from 177,968 recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs3 billion to Rs20.02 against Rs17.02 billion in the previous session.

In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs299 (+1.35 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,399. The runner-up remained BHAT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs70 (+7.37 percent) to Rs1,020. PSMC remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs63.8 (-7.1 percent) per share, closing at Rs834.77, followed by SFL, the share price of which fell by Rs49.9 (-2.85 percent) to close at Rs1,700 per share.

The major sectors taking the index towards north remained commercial banks (85 points), oil & gas exploration companies (82 points), fertilizer (20 points), transport (10 points), synthetic and rayon (9 points), and automobile parts and accessories (7 points) and refinery (5 points).

Ten major companies adding points to the index remained MARI (30 points), EFERT (17 points), MEBL (14 points), PPL and BAHL (12 points each), HBL (9 points), OGDC, ENGRO, PIBTL and PSO (6 points each).

The major sectors taking the index towards south were power generation and distribution and technology & communication (32 points each), cement (23 points), leather & tanneries (16 points), engineering and chemicals (14 points each), and glass and ceramics, investment bank/ investment companies/ securities companies, automobile assemblers and pharmaceutical (8 points each).

Ten major companies depriving the index of points remained PSMC (23 points), HUBC (14 points), TRG (10 points), HCAR and SRVI (9 points each), FFBL (8 points), LOTCHEM and KOHC (7 points each), and INDU (6 points).