KARACHI: In yet another range-bound session on Thursday, the KSE-100 index opened in the green zone but closed barely higher than its preceding close.

Topline Securities said the market-moving announcements included the prime minister picking Asim Munir for the position of the country’s next chief of army staff for three years.

Arif Habib Ltd said the ongoing political uncertainty led the investors to book profits at higher levels. Investors’ confidence remained low because the president’s final approval for the appointment of the new army chief was still awaited when the trading session came to a close.

This resulted in lower market participation as volumes on the mainboard remained sluggish, it said.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,903.65 points, up 23.34 points or 0.05 per cent from the preceding session.

The trading volume increased 10.5pc to 153.1 million shares while the traded value went up 14pc to $26.2m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (25.6m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (9.1m shares), TRG Pakistan Ltd (9.1m shares), JS Bank Ltd (8.4m shares) and Dewan Motors Ltd (7.9m shares).

Sectors that contributed to the index performance were fertiliser (19.6 points), tobacco (17.3 points), cement (14.7 points), investment banking (11.8 points), power generation and distribution (9.8 points).

Companies registering the biggest increase in their share prices in absolute terms were Allawasaya Tex­tile and Finishing Mills Ltd (Rs209.61), Oakistan Tobac­co Company Ltd (Rs52), Sanofi-Aventis Pakis­tan Ltd (Rs49.89), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs42) and Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs21.98).

Shares that declined the most in rupee terms were Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs67.01), Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs65.36), Blessed Textiles Ltd (Rs20.99), Murree Brewery Company Ltd (Rs14.75) and Suraj Cotton Mills Ltd (Rs12.70).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth 0.15m.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2022