KARACHI: Amid relative political calm and strong economic data, the stock market extended its overnight recovery drive as investors remained busy picking shares at attractive valuations, tossing the benchmark KSE 100 index above 113,000 on Tuesday.

Topline Securities Ltd said bulls tightened their grip as the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed strong upward momentum, hitting an intraday high of 1,855 points before closing at 113,010—up by 1,632 points or 1.47 per cent day-on-day.

It attributed this positive trend to the fading selling pressure from local institutions, as indicated by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) data released on Monday, which allowed the market to sustain its gains. Additionally, better-than-expected corporate earnings bolstered investor confidence, driving fresh buying across key sectors.

The top positive contribution came from Engro Holdings, Pakistan Petroleum, Fauji Fertiliser, Oil and Gas Development, and Mari Energies, which collectively added 851 points to the index.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the PSX stayed bullish as investors cheered a surge of 25.2pc in remittances year-on-year to $3bn in January.

He added that rising global crude oil prices, robust earnings in fertiliser, cement and banking sectors and expectations for further SBP policy easing amid thin inflation fuelled bull run at at PSX.

Ali Najib, Head of Sales at Insight Securities, said the bulls were in full control of PSX as they kept the trading floor electric throughout the trading hours.

The market activity remained strong as the trading volume rose 17.28pc to 486.93 million shares while the traded value increased 26.86pc to Rs30.38bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included The Bank of Punjab (59.14m shares), WorldCall Telecom (30.02m shares), Citi Pharma (21.95m shares), Dewan Farooque (20.64m shares) and Bank Makramah (17.08m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs183.14), Sapphire Textile (Rs34.32), Reliance Cotton (Rs33.98), Shahmurad Sugar (Rs21.15) and Shell Pakistan (Rs17.89).

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2025