KARACHI: Share prices increased on Tuesday as investors welcomed the announcement regarding the inflows of dollars in the aftermath of the International Conference on Climate-Resistant Pakistan in Geneva.

Topline Securities said the benchmark index stayed above the preceding day’s close throughout the trading session as Pakistan secured total pledges of over $10 billion from multilateral and bilateral creditors.

According to Arif Habib Ltd, the stock market registered healthy volumes with bulls taking charge to reverse the downward trend in share prices. Refineries and cement companies remained in the limelight throughout the trading session, it added.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,801.51 points, up 296.75 points or 0.73 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume increased 17.8pc to 214.3 million shares. The traded value went down 3.6pc to $29.8m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnergyico PK Ltd (18m shares), Unity Foods Ltd (17.2m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (14m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (12.4m shares) and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (9.1m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were cement (90 points), technology and communication (49.7 points), commercial banking (33.8 points), automobile assembling (21.2 points) and power generation and distribution (20.2 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs40.92), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs29.98), Pakistan Engineering Company Ltd (Rs24.94), Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs18) and Millat Tractors Ltd (Rs14.86).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs439.01), Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs25), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs22.91), Murree Brewery Company Ltd (Rs14.99) and Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs12.62).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.73m.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2023