KARACHI:
The Pakistan Stock Exchange extended gains on Wednesday as the KSE-100 index rose 216 points owing to clarity about the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) autonomy bill.
The federal cabinet on Tuesday gave the green light to the SBP Amendment Bill to clear the way for approval of $1 billion loan tranche under the International Monetary Fund’s $6 billion programme. However, uncertainty about the mini-budget capped gains.
With the lack of developments that could give a clear direction to the market towards the end of the year, the KSE-100 index traded in a narrow range throughout the day.
Investor sentiment remained mixed due to the absence of any significant news flow and they traded in both directions.
The session kicked off on a positive note and for most part of the day, the KSE-100 index recorded minor ups and downs. Robust buying in final hours propelled the market higher with inflated gains.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 216.37 points, or 0.49%, to settle at 44,260.11.
A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the market continued to remain range bound due to the roll-over week. Profit-taking was witnessed in the first trading hour while the market saw a battle between bulls and bears throughout the day.
The refinery sector was in the limelight as the government and the top management of refineries would discuss a new policy path for the oil refining industry.
The market continued to trade sideways and witnessed hefty volumes in third-tier stocks, the report said.
JS Global analyst Muhammad Mubashir said that the market witnessed a roller-coaster ride as it touched a high and low of 44,265 and 43,941 points respectively.
Significant interest was noted in stocks of the refinery sector, particularly Attock Refinery (+7.3%), Pakistan Refinery (+8%) and National Refinery (+7.5%), on the back of discussion on a new refining policy by the government and managements of oil refining companies.
The index closed at 44,260, gaining 216 points day-on-day. Total traded volume stood at 271 million shares where Cnergyico (+9.2%), WorldCall Telecom (+1%), K-Electric (+4.9%), TRG Pakistan (+2.5%) and DS Industries (+5.1%) accounted for approximately 36% of the aggregate.
“Going forward, we expect range-bound activity to continue and recommend investors to view any downside as an opportunity to buy in cement and banking sectors,” the analyst said.
Overall trading volumes surged to 271.1 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 143.4 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.2 billion.
Shares of 361 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 199 stocks closed higher, 141 declined and 21 remained unchanged.
Cynergyico was the volume leader with 47.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.58 to close at Rs6.89. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 14.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.02 to close at Rs2.05 and K-Electric with 13.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.16 to close at Rs3.42.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs199 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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