Market watch: Economic survey propels stocks above 48,000 points

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 473.87 points to settle at 48,251.49

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday staged a modest rally and the KSE-100 index climbed close to 500 points as the release of Pakistan Economic Survey 2020-21 sparked optimism among investors.

Encouraging remittances data, unveiled earlier in the day, fuelled bullish sentiment at the bourse and lifted the index above 48,000 points. Overseas Pakistanis sent home over $2 billion in May 2021 for the 12th consecutive month.

In addition, investors’ expectations for a people-friendly budget aided the uptrend.

Earlier, trading began on a positive note and the index rose steadily till midday. The market also got support from the release of Economic Survey, but later the rising index graph flattened and minor ups and downs were witnessed for the rest of the day.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 473.87 points, or 0.99%, to settle at 48,251.49.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market traded positively, adding a total of 510 points. It closed the session on a bullish note with the index up by 474 points.

Bank, fertiliser, cement and technology stocks dominated the day’s trading. Finance minister’s comments while presenting the Economic Survey also helped propel the market.

Trading volumes remained healthy, though WorldCall Telecom accounted for roughly half the volumes it registered on Wednesday, the report said.

Overall trading volumes fell to 1.04 billion shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 1.36 billion. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs26.4 billion.

Shares of 417 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 276 stocks closed higher, 117 declined and 24 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 329.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.03 to close at Rs4.25. It was followed by K-Electric with 49.1 million shares, closing unchanged at Rs4.22 and Hum Network with 43.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.06 to close at Rs8.75.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs339.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.