Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a historic trading day on Wednesday, after it posted a trading volume of 1.56 billion shares for the first time ever.
Bullish momentum continued to drive the market sentiments, as stocks extended gains for the fourth consecutive session, as investors’ sentiments remained upbeat on higher expectations of a people friendly budget and series of positive economic indicators- V shaped economic recovery.
On Wednesday, the benchmark KSE-100 index clocked at 46,812 index level after gaining about 511 points by the closing bell, as the Index remained positive throughout the session touching an intraday high of 46,855.59 points.
Investors are anticipating a populist and growth oriented budget for the upcoming fiscal year, as the government has promised to offer tax incentives for the industries in the upcoming budget, which helped the KSE-100 index boost market sentiments.
Market sentiments were also driven by upward revision of an estimated provisional GDP growth for the 2020/21 financial year at 3.94per cent, almost double the IMF and World Bank’s forecasts, which was further supported by Moody’s latest report, which said that the credit profile of Pakistan (issuer rating B3) reflects the country’s “baa2” economic strength, which is underpinned by the robust long-term GDP growth potential and large scale of the economy, balanced against low per capita incomes and global competitiveness.
However, the historic volume at the bourse was led by huge trading activity in the WorldCall Telecommunication Limited, which carried the lantern of gains for the investors with about 42.23percent gain, single handedly recording a volume of 707 million shares- contributing about 50 percent of the total market volume.
During the session Market Capital increased by Rs.85.36 billion, while total value traded increased by 4.83 billion to Rs.28.34 billion.
The volume at KSE-100 jumped from 224.83 million shares recorded in the previous session to 306.27 million shares.
The volume chart was led by Worldcall Telecom limited, followed by Hum Network Limited and Unity Foods. The scrips exchanged 707.28 million, 112.49 million and 45.13 million shares respectively.
According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net sellers of worth $3.13 million worth of equities.
Among local investors, the selling chart was led by Individuals, which offloaded $7.36 million worth of equities. While, Banks , Companies and Brokers led the buying chart, which mopped up $3.49 million and $3.31 million and $2.01 million worth of equities.
During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Commercial Banks with 147 points, Technology & Communication with 99 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 73 points, Textile Composite with 46 points and Food & Personal Care Products with 28 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan which contributed 72 points followed by Oil & Gas Development Company Limited with 45 points, Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 30 points, Muslim Commercial Bank with 29 points and Bank Al Falah Limited with 28 points.
However, sectors which dented the index were Cement with 6 points, Paper & Board with 5 points, Tobacco with 4 points, Glass & Ceramics with 3 points and Chemical with 2 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Fauji Fertilizer Company which stripped the index of 22 points followed by Fauji Cement Company Limited with 9 points, Maple Leaf Cement Factory with 8 points, Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited with 5 points and Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited with 4 points.