Daily Times

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bullish on Monday and the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 506.02 points (+1.13 percent) to close at 45,407.33 points.

The KSE-100 Index traded in a range of 729.6 points, showing an intraday high of 45,465.1 points and a low of 44,735.5 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 331.12 points (+1.08 percent) to close at 31,081.32 points. Likewise, the All Share Islamic Index gained 349.95 points (+1.58 percent) to close at 22,476.08 points.

A total of 404 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 175 closed up, shares of 213 closed down while shares of 16 companies remained unchanged. All share volume decreased by 43.65 million to 440.99 million shares, while market capitalisation increased by Rs82.18 billion. The number of total trades by 3,165 to 166,384, and value traded increased by Rs0.26 billion to Rs22.09 billion.

Among scrips, BYCO topped the volumes with 68.6 million shares, followed by PRL (40.8 million) and HASCOL (38.5 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include BYCO, PRL, HASCOL, TRG and ASL, which formed 45 percent of total volumes.

The sectors propping up the index were oil & gas exploration companies with 236 points, oil & gas marketing companies with 88 points, technology & communication with 78 points, power generation & distribution with 44 points and fertilizer with 43 points. The most points added to the index was by OGDC which contributed 111 points followed by PPL with 101 points, TRG with 44 points, PSO with 44 points and HUBC with 41 points.

Sector wise, the index was let down by cement with 22 points, textile composite with 21 points, insurance with 8 points, chemical with 6 points and tobacco with 3 points. The most points taken off the index was by AICL which stripped the index of 12 points followed by MCB with 11 points, BAFL with 10 points, PIOC with 10 points and NBP with 10 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market went down earlier in the session by 165 points that saw across the board mild selling pressure. Short roll-over week and an outstanding amount of Rs38.8 billion at the start of the week caused some jitters. However, a reversal in energy chain stocks (E&P, refinery, O&GMCs and power) saw a rebound in the index.

Anticipation of resolution of gas related circular debt helped the energy chain recover primarily. Among major contributors, OGDC, PPL and HASCOL hit the upper circuit during the session, whereas PSO, HUBC also contributed to the positivity. Similarly, Refinery sector stocks also performed well, said the analysts.

According to other experts, several triggers on the economic front helped the local bourse move up which include the State Bank of Pakistan maintaining the status quo on the policy rate along with projecting an increase in growth prospects for the country to 3 percent. Moreover, Pakistan’s Current Account deficit (CAD) declined by 75 percent YoY and 76 percent MoM to $50 million in February 2021, compared with the deficit of $197 million in February 2020 and $210 million last month.