KARACHI: The positive momentum on the Pakistan Stock Exchange continued for the second consecutive day on Tuesday on the back of a positive development relating to the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme.

According to Topline Securities, investors welcomed the statement by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin that a delay of two to four days in the approval of the Finance Supplementary Bill 2021 wouldn’t be an issue for the IMF programme.

As a result, the KSE-100 index gained 503.95 points or 1.12 per cent on Tuesday to close at 45,390.84 points.

Market participation increased 92.64pc to 375.98 million shares while the value of traded shares went up 96.12pc to Rs6.51 billion.

Sectors contributing the highest number of points to the benchmark index included technology and communication (112.42 points), cement (72.13 points), oil and gas exploration (59.33 points), power generation and distribution (41.62 points) and pharmaceutical (35.87 points).

Stocks that contributed significantly to the traded volume included Unity Foods Ltd (25.72m shares), TRG Pakistan Ltd (23.01m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (22.05m shares), TeleCard Ltd (20.98m shares) and First National Equities Ltd (19.77m shares).

Shares contributing positively to the index included TRG Pakistan Ltd (56.89 points), Systems Ltd (39.84 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (33.37 points), The Hub Power Company Ltd (30.85 points) and Unity Foods Ltd (23.82 points).

Stocks that took away the maximum number of points from the index included Engro Corporation Ltd (8.21 points), Kohinoor Textile Mills Ltd (5.93 points), United Bank Ltd (5.69 points), Interloop Ltd (5.06 points) and Bank Alfalah Ltd (4.07 points).

Stocks recording the biggest increases in percentage terms included Unity Foods Ltd, which went up 7.47pc, followed by National Refinery Ltd (5.62pc), Avanceon Ltd (5.57pc), Jahangir Siddiqui and Company Ltd (4.94pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (4.28pc).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased securities worth $5.4m.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2022