Daily Times

The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned around to bullish trend on Thursday, gaining 1,781.94 points, a positive change of 1.87 percent, closing all time high at 97,328.40 points as compared to 95,546.46 points on the last trading day.

A total of 969,907,357 shares were traded during the day as compared to 1,138,411,946 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 35.167 billion against Rs. 37.481 billion on the last trading day. As many as 457 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 249 of them recorded gains and 167 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 41 companies remained unchanged. The three top trading companies were WorldCall Limited with 95,563,962 shares at Rs 1.38 per share, Pace (Pak) Limited with 51,499,190 shares at Rs 5.81 per share and Kohinoor Spinning with 48,260,119 shares at Rs.8.40 per share. Pakistan Services Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.80.17 per share price, closing at Rs 882.84, whereas the runner-up was Haleon Pakistan Limited with Rs 80.13 rise in its per share price to Rs 882.45.

Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 137.27 per share closing at Rs Nestle Pakistan followed by Services Industries Limited with Rs 74.86 decline to close at Rs 6,616.31.

Separately, Major stock markets diverged and the dollar was mixed Thursday as traders weighed escalating tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war. Bitcoin extended its surge, as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency struck a record high of over $98,000.

Oil prices rallied “as geopolitical tensions outweighed concerns over rising US crude supplies”, noted Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Geopolitical fears have also sent gold higher in recent sessions… as investors look for some safety as Russia-Ukraine tensions escalate,” he added.

Kyiv accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile attack at Ukraine for the first time on Thursday but without a nuclear warhead in a new escalation of the conflict.

Awaiting Wall Street’s reopening, Asian and European stock markets travelled in different directions as blockbuster earnings late Wednesday from US chip titan Nvidia smashed forecasts but fell short of investor hopes.

A driver of artificial-intelligence transitioning by companies, Nvidia’s market value has rocketed 200 percent over the last year to become the world’s-richest company. But its stock fell in after-hours trading. “The negative market reaction to Nvidia’s results suggests investors are now focusing on the minutiae rather than the big picture,” noted Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“That’s a natural evolution as the more people zoom in on a company, the more they learn about it, and the more granular detail they want.” Elsewhere on the corporate front, shares in Indian conglomerate Adani Group tanked after US prosecutors charged its industrialist owner Gautam Adani with handing out more than $250 million in bribes for key contracts.

Flagship operation Adani Enterprises dived almost 20 percent, while several of its subsidiaries — from coal to media businesses — lost between 10 and 20 percent. On the upside, bitcoin closed in on $100,000 having soared since Donald Trump was elected US president in early November. “The bitcoin boom shows no signs of slowing, with the crypto king… edging closer to the coveted six-figure milestone,” added analyst Britzman.

Trump’s “return to the White House is fuelling hopes of a more crypto-friendly federal stance”, he said.