Daily Times

Bulls regained ground at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on the first trading day of the week, as benchmark KSE-100 index added567.23 points by the closing bell to clock at 46,375.59 index level.

On Monday, the index witnessed a choppy session as it registered its intraday high at 46,507.42 level after it gained nearly 700 points. The bullish spell was primarily backed by a recovery in international oil prices, which reached a 13- month high to a Pre-pandemic level of $60/ barrel. Consequently, the Exploration &Production sector remained in limelight today. Market sentiments were also buoyed by impressive corporate results announcement which also lifted cement and banking scrips.

Investor were also elated after Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR)data reveled that it has surpassed the 7 month FY21 tax collection target by Rs 20 billion after collecting Rs 2.57 trillion revenue. The inflow of Remittances by overseas Pakistanis remained above $2 billion for the 8th straight month. Investors also reacted to Pakistan’s foreign Office statement which revealed that country had made substantive progress on the remaining items of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Action Plan, which lifted hopes of Pakistan’s exclusion from the financial watchdog’s grey list.

“FATF had assessed Pakistan to have completed 21 of the 27 Action Items under the current Action Plan. In the remaining six partially addressed items, significant progress has been made by Pakistan, which is duly acknowledged by the wider FATF membership,” Foreign Office Spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said at the weekly media briefing.

During the session, Worldcall Telecom Limited again led the volume chart, with nearly 40.31 million shares, following continuous noteworthy performance in the previous few sessions. It is interesting to note that Worldcall Telecom today issued a statement wherein it unequivocally denied fake and misleading information being spread through social media platforms, which according to the notification, was completely detrimental for the company.

The volume table was also led by Maple Leaf Cement limited and Telecard Limited as scrips exchanged 35.65 million and 28.7 million shares, respectively.

The volume at Kse-100 surged from 199.66 million shares recorded in the previous session, to 249 million shares, while the all-share volume also edged up from 442 million shares recorded in the previous session to 486.38 million shares.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited local investors led the buying table, as Individuals and Banks mopped up $6.67 million and $3.06 million worth of equities.

Sectors that lifted the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 119 points, Technology & Communication with 75 points, Cement with 68 points, Pharmaceuticals with 49 points and Commercial Banks with 47 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by Oil &Gas Development Company Limited which contributed 55 points followed by TRG Pakistan Limited with 46 points, Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited with 34 points, DG Khan Cement Limited with 34 points and Systems Limited with 30 points.

However, sectors,which weighed down the index were Power Generation & Distribution with 15 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 1 points and Real Estate Investment Trust with 1 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Hub Power Company Limited which stripped the index of 8 points followed by Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 7 points, National Bank of Pakistan with 7 points, Kohat Cement Company Limited with 7 points and Bank Alfalah Limited with 7 points.