KSE-100 advances on back of likely IMF team visit

Benchmark index gains 166.21 points to settle at 37,504.08

KARACHI: The stock market maintained its bullish trend on Monday as the KSE-100 index advanced and closed its third successive session in the black.

Despite the positive momentum, some sectors endured profit-taking as reports of possible reshuffling in the cabinet surfaced. Nevertheless, the mood remained slightly upbeat as investors followed developments in Washington pertaining to the finance minister’s visit and meetings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The index found support and resistance at 37,281.15 points and 37,698.79 points respectively. At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 166.21 points, or 0.45%, to settle at 37,504.08.

Topline Securities, in its report, stated that the index continued the positive momentum that began at the end of last week. “As per reports, Pakistan has reached an agreement with the IMF on a three-year bailout package and an IMF mission is expected to visit Pakistan by the end of April, which aided positive sentiments in the market.” Investors also welcomed the upcoming announcement of a tax amnesty scheme, which was likely to enhance government’s revenues.

The draft of the amnesty scheme has also been shared with the IMF and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and they had not objected to it, the report stated. Commercial banks and oil and gas marketing companies remained in the limelight as they cumulatively added 86 points to the index’s rise.

On the other hand, the insurance sector erased 14 points from the index. Overall, trading volumes decreased to 172 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 189.4 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.16 billion. Shares of 342 companies were traded.

At the end of the day, 194 stocks closed higher, 130 declined and 18 remained unchanged. Pak Elektron was the volume leader with 18.2 million shares, gaining Rs1.09 to close at Rs22.98. It was followed by K-Electric with 13.99 million shares, losing Rs0.13 to close at Rs5.10 and The Bank of Punjab (XD) with 12.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.17 to close at Rs13.78. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs614.1 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan