Daily Times

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) crossed 42000-level in the second trading session of the week continuing its bull run however it witnessed a volatile trading session as the benchmark KSE 100 Index experienced an early high jump followed by a free fall.

The index stormed past the 42,000-mark for the first time in 2019 soon after the commencement of the session. However, at noon, the index plunged on the verdict of the special court regarding former president and COAS Pervez Musharraf’s death sentence. A three-member special court in Islamabad on Tuesday convicted Musharraf of violating the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule while he was in power, in a case that had been pending since 2013.

The 76-year-old former leader, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for more than three years, has the option to appeal the verdict. The special court ruled on the death sentence by a two to one majority, with one of the three judges not backing the death sentence but agreeing on a conviction.

The KSE 100 Index marked its intraday high at 42,056.14 before falling steeply by 619.17 points to record its intraday low at 41,025.71. After recovering some its losses, the index managed to settle higher by 123.78 points at 41,768.66. The KMI 30 Index saw a similar pattern, registering its high at 67,940.35 and low at 65,982.65 points before closing at 67,656.51 (+844.91 points). On the contrary, the KSE All Share Index failed to recover its losses, ending the day down by 51.44 points at 29,820.47. All Share Volume increased by 54.50 Million to 412.29 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.13.87 Billion.

Fauji Foods Limited led the volume chart, followed by right shares of Hascol Petroleum Limited and Unity Foods Limited .The scripts exchanged 40.59 million, 35.64 million and 26.21 million shares, respectively.

The sectors that propped up the index was Pakistan Petroleum Limited by 101.59 points followed by Oil and Gas Development Company Limited 100.26 points and Habib Bank Limited with 81.16 points. The most points taken off the index was by FFC which stripped the index of 48 points followed by Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited with 37 points, HUBC with 37 points, PSO with 21 points and Lucky Cement Limited with 21 points. Meanwhile, Rs7.254 billion has been allocated for the uplift of electricity infrastructure, including electrical installations, rehabilitation, reconstruction, new grid stations and village electrification, in the merged tribal districts under the PTI government.

This was revealed by Power Minister Omar Ayub Khan while chairing a meeting on matters pertaining to the electrification of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri, parliamentarians from merged tribal districts and officials from Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (TESCO), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), Pakistan Electric Power Supply Company (PEPCO) and Power Division were also present on the occasion.

The meeting was apprised about the work that has already started on the construction of new feeders in various parts of the tribal districts. The officials informed that out of the Rs2 billion earmarked for reconstruction and rehabilitation of electricity installation, Rs1.4 billion have already been released, while Rs816 million have been released under the Rs1.278 billion-worth Annual Development Programme (ADP).

In Asia: Stock markets traded higher amid upbeat sentiments by a recent phase 1 trade deal reached between Beijing and Washington.As part of the agreement, the U.S. will roll back some levies on Chinese products and China will increase its purchases of U.S. agricultural products. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday the “deal will be signed in early January and then we will start on phase two.”

The Shanghai Composite traded1.27% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.22% as Shares of digital app Meitu rocketed over 8%, followed by Tencent stocks surging 3%.

South Korea’s Kospi also traded 1.27% higher amid Shares of Samsung Electronics surge over 3%, while SK Hynix stocks soared over 4 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also gained 0.47%.