KARACHI: After an initial dip in share prices on Friday, bulls took charge of the trading floor on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
The benchmark index of representative shares reached an intraday high of 688.23 points as investors expected the resumption of the stalled loan programme under the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Arif Habib Ltd.
The optimism followed a hike of 300 basis points in the key interest rate. The move provided the market with “much-needed clarity,” said the brokerage. In addition, the statement by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that the staff-level agreement was expected in the coming week also helped sentiments.
The trading volume remained robust across the board as investors sought to increase the value of their portfolio holdings.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,337.00 points, up 666.1 points or 1.64 per cent from the preceding session.
The overall trading volume increased 28pc to 194.8 million shares. The traded value went down 2.4pc to $27.9m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included BankIslami Pakistan Ltd (15.7m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (15.4m shares), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (13.4m shares), the Bank of Punjab Ltd (10.4m shares) and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (6.4m shares).
Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were exploration and production (204.6 points), commercial banking (93.3 points), miscellaneous (77.9 points), technology and communication (72.2 points) and oil marketing (69.3 points).
Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs152.39), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs100.22), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd (Rs50), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs37.50) and Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs35.29).
Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Food Ltd (Rs1,687.42), Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs200), Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs65), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs45.30) and Ismail Industries Ltd (Rs34.45).
Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.59m.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2023
