KARACHI:
The Pakistan Stock Exchange turned bullish on Monday and the KSE-100 index minched up by 48 points mainly on the back of receipt of $3 billion from Saudi Arabia combined with partial improvement in the macroeconomic outlook of the country.
Dubious investors opted to stay on the sidelines due to inflationary concerns which indicated further hike in the interest rate in the forthcoming monetary policy.
Trading activity remained sombre throughout the day and market participants maintained a cautious stance, resulting in slim trading volumes.
Fresh appreciation of the local currency against the US dollar, stemming from $3 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia, instilled optimism among the market participants, which contributed to the positive close.
Following a brief rally at the start of the session, the index dropped and entered the loss-making area. From this point onward, the market remained lacklustre however late session buying propped it upward and made it close with gains.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 47.94 points, or 0.11%, to settle at 43,280.77.
A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the market remained lackluster during the entire trading session.
Bears remained active in the market by pushing investors on the sidelines in continuation to the concerns towards current account deficit figures and higher inflation along with indication of an increase in interest rates in the upcoming monetary policy.
Market opened on a positive note but activity remained sluggish during the day due to volatility in index but managed to close positive at the day end.
“Selling pressure seems to subside at current levels and the market may witness good flows moving forward,” the analyst said.
Sectors contributing to the performance included exploration and production (+124 points), technology (+83 points), power (+26 points), chemical (+10 points) and cement (+8 points).
JS Global analyst Muhammad Mubashir said that the KSE-100 index witnessed a volatile session with a high and low of 43,556 and 42,972 points, respectively to close at the level of 43,281.
Major contributions to the trading volume of 177 million shares was from WorldCall Telecom (-4.4%), Telecard Limited (-6.1%), TRG Pakistan Limited (4.2%), Unity Foods Limited (-4.8%) and Hascol Petroleum Limited (6.8%).
On the economic front, Saudi Arabia deposited $3 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan.
“Going forward, we recommend investors adopt a buy-on-dips strategy in the banking and fertiliser sectors,” he said.
Overall trading volumes declined to 176.9 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 287.7 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.08 billion.
Shares of 314 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 122 stocks closed higher, 175 declined and 17 remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 16.59 million shares, losing Rs0.09 to close at Rs1.96. It was followed by Telecard Limited XB with 12.57 million shares, losing Rs0.9 to close at Rs13.91 and TRG Pakistan Limited with 11.19 million shares, gaining Rs3.24 to close at Rs81.1.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs85.38 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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