Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bullish for the third session in a row after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday that it remains keen to work with the new government, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 901.47 points (+1.46 percent) to close at 62,815.81 points.

The bulls dominated the trading floor in the last hour of the session after the IMF said it looks forward to working with the new government of Pakistan. In a press briefing, Julie Kozack stated, “During the period of the caretaker government, the authorities have maintained economic stability. This has been done through strict adherence to fiscal targets while also protecting the social safety net. It has been done by maintaining a tight monetary policy stance to control inflation and to continue to build up foreign exchange reserves.”

Earlier, Bloomberg News reported a day earlier that Pakistan plans to seek a new loan of at least $6 billion from the IMF to help the incoming government repay billions in debt due this year. The country will seek to negotiate an Extended Fund Facility with the IMF, the report said, adding that the talks with the global lender were expected to start in March or April.

The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,095.69 points, showing an intraday high of 62,945.36 points and an intraday low of 61,849.67 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 637.12 points (+1.51 percent) to close at 41,128.99 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 506.34 points (+1.66 percent) to close at 30,461.43 points.

Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 24.92 million to 196.70 million from 171.78 million shares a session earlier. Similarly, the overall market volumes increased by 53.14 million to 377.97 million from 324.83 million shares a session earlier.

Among scrips, KOSM topped the volumes with 36.17 million shares, followed by KEL (26.53 million) and YOUW (16.72 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KOSM, KEL, YOUW, OGDC, and WTL, which formed around 30 percent of total volumes.

A total of 337 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 352 a session earlier, out of which shares of 199 closed up, shares of 118 companies closed down while shares of 20 companies remained unchanged. A total of 93 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against the same number of companies a session earlier, out of which share prices of 66 companies closed up and 27 companies closed down.

The number of total trades increased to 180,060 from 162,697 a session earlier, while the value traded increased to Rs16.01 billion from Rs13.97 billion a session earlier.

In terms of rupee, MARI remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs52.02 (+2.35 percent) per share, closing at Rs2,266.7. The runner-up remained HPL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs29 (+2.2 percent) to Rs1,350. RCML remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs39.88 (-7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs492, followed by SIEM, the share price of which fell by Rs13.63 (-2.27 percent) to close at Rs586.37 per share.

The major sectors taking the index towards north remained oil & gas exploration companies (331 points), commercial banks (268 points), fertilizer (88 points), cement (84 points), power generation and distribution (55 points), textile composite (51 points), oil & gas marketing companies (41 points), and pharmaceutical (15 points).

Major companies adding points to the index remained OGDC (102 points), MEBL (57 points), PPL (56 points), FFC (45 points), LUCK (38 points), MCB (28 points), ILP (25 points), UBL (22 points), MARI (21 points) and BAFL (16 points). The major sectors taking the index towards south remained cable and electrical goods (2 points), and technology and communication and transport (one point each).

Major companies depriving the index of points remained TRG (5 points), SYS and HINOON (4 points each), and JLICL, KOHE, ENGRO, ASC, FFBL, HCAR and AVN (3 points each).