KARACHI: The stock market continued its record-setting spree on Tuesday amid growing optimism about reaching a Staff-Level Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) soon, propelling the index to a new peak above 81,000 intraday.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed at an all-time high amid speculation in the earnings season at PSX. This was led by selected oil and banking scrips, with expectations of high dividend payouts.

He said investor expectations for a resolution to the $15 billion China energy debt restructuring ahead of the IMF’s new bailout deal and government deliberations over privatising ailing state-owned enterprises contributed to the bullish close.

Topline Securities Ltd said the equity market exhibited a mixed pattern. The index surged to an intraday peak of 81,087 points before settling at 80,672 points, reflecting a modest gain of 106 points or 0.13pc.

The fertiliser, exploration and production (E&P), and textile sectors led the market’s positive momentum, bolstered by companies like FFC, POL, ILP, Engro FertFERT, and FFBL, collectively contributing 183 points.

The overall trading volume more than doubled to 610.26 million shares. The traded value also surged 86.69pc to Rs24.64bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included K-Electric (51.02m shares), The Bank of Punjab (43.33m shares), WorldCall Telecom (40.77m shares), Hum Network (40.05m shares) and Maple Leaf Cement (25.55m).

The shares registering the most significant increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd (Rs94.89), Unilever Foods (Rs89.99), Ismail Industries (Rs71.11), Exide Pakistan (Rs61.25) and PIA Holding (B) (Rs57.72).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize (Rs73.00), Nestle Pakistan (Rs55.19),

Mari Petroleum (Rs28.99), Pakistan Services (Rs22.79) and Indus Motor (Rs17.37).

Foreign investors turned net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.24m.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2024