KARACHI: The KSE-100 Index surged beyond the 57,000-point level, concluding the trading session at a new record high on Thursday.

Topline Securities Ltd said the upward trend was a result of the successful staff-level agreement reached between the Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani authorities under a $3 billion Stand-By Arrang­ement.

Furthermore, the auction of treasury bills held a day ago also reinforced the market’s perception that interest rates have peaked and, therefore, the policy rate would slowly go down in the coming months.

Exploration and production as well as fertiliser sectors contributed to the closing of the index on the higher side.

Arif Habib Ltd said the short-term range of 56,200-56,800 points has been breached on the higher side, which raises the near-term support to 56,800 points. “Near-term weakness in cement names is setting up long opportunities,” it added.

As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 57,397.03 points after gaining 716.96 points or 1.26 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume increased 59.7pc to over one billion shares. The traded value increased 18.5pc to Rs28.8bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (386.3m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (45.1m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (39.5m shares), Pak Elektron Ltd (29.1m shares) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (28.7m shares).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs400), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs55), Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs50), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs40.30) and Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (Rs33.02).

Companies registering the biggest decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs14.89), Faisal Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs13.96), Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs13.65), Pakistan Hotels Developers Ltd (Rs8.70) and Millat Tractors Ltd (Rs8.34).

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2023