KARACHI: The benchmark of representative firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange traded mostly on the higher side on Tuesday.

Topline Securities said the positivity in the stock market could be attributed to the Supreme Court taking a “subdued tone” on the Punjab elections and delaying the hearing of the case until May 23.

In addition, a religious party that’s part of the ruling coalition called off a sit-in against the recent Supreme Court orders, which also provided some support to the market, the brokerage added.

Arif Habib Ltd said clarity on the political ground boosted investors’ confidence.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,006.25 points, up 287.82 points or 0.69 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume increased 119.3pc to 196.2 million shares. The traded value went up 69.8pc to $20.3m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan Telecommunication Ltd (15.6m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (14m shares), Hum Network Ltd (12.7m shares), Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd (8.2m shares) and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (8.1m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were exploration and production (109.3 points), commercial banking (63.9 points), fertiliser (44.3 points), miscellaneous (26.4 points) and paper and board (12 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs73.58), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs50), Faisal Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs19.90), Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd (Rs18.10) and Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs16.65).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd (Rs200), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs38.98), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs18.11), Shield Corporation Ltd (Rs14) and Khairpur Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs6.11).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.94m.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2023