Daily Times

The market recorded a positive close of 105 points in today’s session amid a volatile trading session where the indices traded within a narrow range but managed to put an end in the green zone to close at 35,758 levels, with an increase of 0.30% from the previous session’s closing.

The KSE 100 Index took a dip during initial hours and recorded its intraday low at 35,458.10 after losing 195.23 points. The index then swung in both directions, reaching its intraday high at 35,834.24.The KMI 30 Index gained 42.43 points to close at 58,434.98, while the KSE All Share Index settled accumulated 65.73 points, ending at 25,616.92. The index traded in a range of 369.08 points or 1.04 percent of the previous close, showing an intraday high of 35,829.09 and a low of 35,460.01.Of the 95 traded companies in the KSE100 Index, 43 closed up 49 closed down, while 3 remained unchanged. The total volume traded for the index was 134.37 million shares. The overall volumes declined from 297.64 million in the previous session to 265.94 million.

Worldcall Telecom maintained its top position on the volume chart, followed by Pak Elektron Limited and Invest Capital Investment Bank Limited .The scripts had traded 45.81 million, 16.72 million and 13.67 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that pulled the bourse lower included cement, investment banking and food and personal care products .On the other hand, fertiliser sector, oil & gas marketing sector and oil & gas exploration sector helped the index close in the green.

The most points added to the index table were by Pakistan Tobacco Company which contributed 29 points followed by ENGRO with 28 points, Pakistan Oil Fields with 26 points, Pakistan State Oil with 23 points and Hub Power Company limited with 19 points.

Meanwhile, the upcoming monetary policy was the main concern amongst investors due to higher than expected inflation as they were expecting a rate cut a few days back. Moreover, investors resorted to profit-taking in Cement stocks.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has proposed new brokers regime for stock market brokers with financial resource requirements, and in notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), has asked all market participants to share the comments and feedback.The notice to the PSX also includes details of the new regime, the highlight of which is that brokers would now be divided into three categories – Trading and Clearing Broker (TC), Trading and Self Clearing Broker (TSC), and Trading Only Broker (TO).

Under the new financial resource requirements proposed for brokers, net worth of TC broker licence would be Rs500 million and above; net worth of TSC broker license would be Rs150 million and above, and net worth of TO broker license would be Rs15 million and above.

According to the new regime, the requirement for at least Rs150 million net worth for keeping custody of client assets shall be applicable on the basis of financial statements of December 30, 2019 and shall be implemented from March 31, 2020.