KARACHI: Bulls ruled the trading floor at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday as investors opted for value buying while expecting an early resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme, said Arif Habib Ltd.

According to Standard Capital Securities Strategist Faisal Shaji, the expected inflow from the IMF propelled the stock market because it’ll also pave the way for financial support from friendly countries.

Investors were wary initially owing to a continuous spike in the dollar rate against the local currency in the interbank market. However, retail investors gained confidence afterwards on the back of reports about dollar-based inflows, he said. Exporters will bring their dollars back once the flows from friendly states arrive, said Mr Shaji.

The KSE-100 index settled at 42,525.95 points, up 749 points or 1.79 per cent from a day ago.

The trading volume increased 85.4pc to 300.6 million shares while the traded value went up 92.9pc to $44.8m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included TPL Properties Ltd (23.68m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (20.65m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (17.86m shares), Hum Network Ltd (15.72m shares) and Unity Foods Ltd (15.4m shares).

Sectors that contributed the highest number of points to the benchmark index included technology and communication (136.62 points), oil and gas exploration (95.15 points), cement (85.92 points), commercial banking (76.36 points) and fertiliser (72.17 points).

Shares contributing most positively to the index included Systems Ltd (64.99 points), TRG Pakistan Ltd (56.56 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (32.92 points), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (32.47 points) and Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (32.21 points).

Stocks that contributed most negatively to the index included United Bank Ltd (14.17 points), Murree Brewery Company Ltd (3.12 points), IGI Holdings Ltd (2.83 points), Askari Bank Ltd (1.62 points) and Dolmen City REIT (1.4 points).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $1.48m.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2022