Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its winning streak on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive session, as benchmark KSE-100 advanced 593.25 points by the closing bell to clock at 45,450.31 index level.

On Wednesday, the market remained upbeat through the session as the index has increased over 3000 points in the four session’s streak. During the session investors took interest across the mainboard stocks, with particular focus on tech stocks, followed by banks, cement, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies and Exploration & Production.

Investors’ sentiments were primarily buoyed by some clarity on the political landscape and nearly an end to the ruckus, after the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Tuesday postponed its long march planned for later this month, amid differences within the opposition alliance on the issue of resigning from the assemblies.

Moreover, on the economic front investors cheered consistent appreciation of Pakistan Rupee against the dollar, as the currency hit over a one-year high at Rs156.99 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday, as flow of foreign currencies remained high compared to outflows. The inflows have kept the country’s foreign currency reserves stable at a 13-month high of $13 billion and strengthened Islamabad’s capacity to make international payments mainly on import and foreign debt repayment counters.

During the session, the index remained in the green zone throughout the day registering its intraday high at 45,540.63 after gaining 683.57 points.

The volume at Kse-100 surged from 168.58million shares recorded in the previous session to 263.12 million shares, while the all-share volume also jumped from 408.46 million shares recorded in the previous session to 510.38 million shares. Market Capital increased by Rs.109.52 Billion, while total value traded also increased by 4.81 Billion to Rs.24.80 Billion.

The volume chart was led by TRG Pakistan Limited followed by Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited and Pakistan Refinery Limited. The scrips, exchanged 34.43 million, 32.42 million and 26.73 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net buyers of $0.84 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Banks, Companies and Individuals led the selling chart, and offloaded $2.3 million and $2.1 million and $1.8 million worth of equities. However, Insurance Companies, Mutual funds Companies and Brokers led the buying chart and moped up $2.89 million, $2.82 million and $1.38 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Commercial Banks with 175 points, Technology & Communication with 94 points, Cement with 59 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 50 points and Fertilizer with 40 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan which contributed 100 points followed by United Bank Limited with 59 points, Habib Bank Limited with 45 points, Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 24 points and Muslim Commercial Bank with 23 points.

However, sectors which continued to dent the index were Tobacco with 8 points, Synthetic & Rayon with 1 point and Paper & Board with 1 point. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Systems limited which stripped the index of 7 points followed by Adamjee Insurance Company Limited with 6 points, Kot Addu Power Company Limited with 5 points, Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited with 5 points and Hub Power Company Limited with 4 points.