KARACHI: Following a bloodbath on the trading floor in the last two sessions, equity investors resorted to value-hunting on Thursday amid rising hopes about a positive outcome of the IMF talks, propelling the benchmark KSE 100-share index above the 65,000 level.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the Ministry of Finance claims to have met all the IMF agreed targets to complete the final review under the current short-term $3bn Stand-By Arrangement, expiring next month, for the release of $1.1bn tranche played a catalyst role in bullish close at PSX.

Additionally, Topline Securities Ltd said the falling yields on the Pakistan Investment Bonds at the auction held on Wednesday increased the possibility of an anticipated interest rate cut in April if not in the monetary policy review on March 18.

Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, Mari Petroleum Ltd, Meezan Bank Ltd and PSO collectively contributed 366 points to the index.

As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 65,064.27 points after surging 1,015.82 points or 1.59 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading rose 24.72pc to 315.24 million shares. The traded value also increased 13.40pc to Rs10.48bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom (42.74m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (36.11m shares), Kohinoor Spinning Ltd (19.58m shares), K-Eectric (19.06m shares) and Pakistan Refinery (18.95m shares).

Shares registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Mari Petroleum Ltd (Rs72.51), Nestle Pakistan (Rs69.12), Lucky Core Industry (Rs41.49), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs37.99) and Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd (Rs27.87).

Companies registering the biggest decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Ismail Industries Ltd (Rs90.00), Philip Morris (Pakistan) Ltd (Rs18.60), Shield Corporation Ltd(Rs5.00), Hino Pak Motors Ltd (Rs3.99) and GOC (Pak) Ltd (Rs3.83).

Foreign investors turned net sellers as they sold out shares worth $0.10m.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2024