KARACHI: Stocks extended their gains on Friday on strong corporate results that’ve surprised many given the tough economic conditions prevailing for months on end.

Topline Securities said the index of representative shares went up mainly because of United Bank Ltd, Meezan Bank Ltd, Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd, Mari Petroleum Company Ltd and Highnoon Laboratories, which cumulatively contributed 155 points to the benchmark.

According to Arif Habib Ltd, the KSE-100 index traded on the higher side throughout the trading session amidst emerging clarity on the political front.

Investors took positions in the market as political parties inched closer towards resolving the longstanding impasse.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,580.85 points, up 116.94 points or 0.28 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume increased 58.5pc to 268.1 million shares. The traded value went up 43.7pc to $31.6m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnergyico PK Ltd (23.2m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (22.1m shares), Silkbank Ltd (21.7m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (18.7m shares) and Telecard Ltd (10.2m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were investment commercial banking (69.2 points), pharmaceutical (40 points), investment banking (15.2 points), food and personal care products (13.4 points) and refinery (12.7 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd (Rs1,300), Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs64.02), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs33.23), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs24.38) and Highnoon Laboratories Ltd (Rs23.18).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs59.65), Towellers Ltd (Rs15.49), Sitara Chemical Industries Ltd (Rs11), Systems Ltd (Rs10.73) and Al-Ghazi Tractors Ltd (Rs10.04).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $16.3m.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023