Daily Times

A 0.45pc rise in the KSE-100 index on Thursday helped to prolong the gains of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as investors awaited the country’s monetary policy announcement later in the day.

Prior to the Eidul-Adha celebrations, the market experienced a lackluster trading session. At 41,344.01, the market closed up 184.22 points, or 0.45%. After an initial jump, the market began to collapse, and by noon it had fallen to an intra-day low.

As soon as the index was saved by a purchasing spree, it began to rise. The index remained level in the final minutes of the session, although fresh purchasing pushed up the gains. The auto, cement, bank, fertilizer, and oil sectors all saw a moderate amount of buying activity and ended the day in the green.

It was reported that the stock market was lacking in activity, with the index trading between an intra-day high of +237 points and an intra-day low of -170 points to close at 41,344 points. With the news that Pakistan’s Petroleum Division has proposed a massive increase in natural gas prices that it says will stop the growth of the country’s gas circular debt, investors’ attention was drawn to gas distribution companies (SNGPL and SSGC) as well as exploration and production firms (OGDC and Pakistan Petroleum). On Wednesday, the volume on the all-share index rose slightly to 99.1m from 98.25m. In the previous session, Rs2.7b worth of shares were traded, however, this time, Rs4.04b worth of shares were traded.

Oil and Gas Development Company came in second with 5.8m shares, followed by Sui Northern Gas Pipeline with 5.3m shares, and Lotte Chemical placed third with 7.3m shares. The stock prices of 310 firms were up or down on Thursday, with gains of 162 companies, declines of 126 companies, and no changes in 22 companies’ stock prices.