KARACHI: The benchmark of Pakistani shares stayed range-bound on Monday as investors looked for clarity on the appointment of a new army chief, upcoming repayment of $1 billion Eurobond and a review of the International Monetary Fund loan programme.

Topline Securities said equities closed slightly up with major positive contributions coming in from technology shares.

Trading opened in the positive territory but a lack of investors’ confidence limited the index’s movement within a narrow band, said Arif Habib Ltd. Mainboard volumes remained dry while third-tier stocks posted decent volumes.

Investors preferred to book profits on the higher side as a lack of positive triggers and macroeconomic concerns dampened their mood.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,761.19 points, up 30.95 points or 0.07 per cent from the preceding session.

The trading volume decreased 29.8pc to 132.9 million shares while the traded value went down 9.7pc to $20.5m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (14.1m shares), TRG Pakistan Ltd (10.2m shares), Unity Foods Ltd (8.7m shares), Ghani Chemical Ltd (8.5m shares) and Ghani Global Holdings Ltd (7.7m shares).

Sectors that contributed to the index performance were technology and communication (97 points), commercial banking (17 points), miscellaneous (9.7 points), transport (6.4 points), oil and gas marketing (six points).

Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Allawasaya Textile and Finishing Mills Ltd (Rs168.73), Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs55), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs45), Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs29.92) and Blessed Textiles Ltd (Rs27).

Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd (Rs250), Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs44.99), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs29.99), the Thal Industries Corporation Ltd (Rs21.50) and Khyber Textile Mills Ltd (Rs16.92).

Foreign investors were net buyers on Thursday as they purchased shares worth 0.15m.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2022