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Stocks rally as govt moves to resume talks with IMF
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) welcomed 2023 with a rally in share prices on Monday.
Topline Securities said the KSE-100 index mostly stayed in the green zone, thanks to the expectations about a breakthrough on the circular debt front. The government is reportedly considering rationalising the gas tariff to meet the pre-conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the resumption of dialogue for unlocking the loan’s next tranche.
Arif Habib Ltd also said investors were active during the trading session because of the positive news flow on the ninth review of the IMF loan programme. The exploration and production sector remained in the limelight as news reports hinted at an early resolution of the liquidity crisis.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,815.90 points, up 395.45 points or 0.98 per cent from the preceding session.
The overall trading volume decreased 14.9pc to 242.2 million shares. The traded value went down 8.6pc to $32.1m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (14.9m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (12.7m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (12.2m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (10.3m shares) and WorldCall Telecom Ltd (9.3m shares).
Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were commercial banking (149 points), fertiliser (147.2 points), exploration and production (108.3 points), oil marketing (33.8 points) and refinery (21.8 points).
Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs42), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs20.12), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs20), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs19.35) and Pakistan Engineering Company Ltd (Rs17.89).
Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd (Rs1,000), Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs157.29), JDW Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs30.46), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs20) and EFU Life Assurance Ltd (Rs14.32).
Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.51m.
Published in Dawn, january 3th, 2023
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