KARACHI:
Bulls returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday as they lifted the benchmark KSE-100 index close to the 45,000-point mark.
Positive reports regarding the emerging political situation in the country aided investor confidence, which supported the market to end the session in the green.
Investors also took cue from the decline in international oil prices that dived on the back of contraction in demand from China due to renewed lockdowns. The news report indicated that inflation would slow down in Pakistan, triggering a rally at the bourse.
Market players brushed off the fresh decline in the rupee’s value to an all-time low as they did not show much reaction. Positive investor sentiment sparked a buying spree in all index-heavy sectors including automobile, cement, bank, fertiliser and oil.
Earlier, trading began with a spike and the KSE-100 index remained in the green zone throughout the session. Although some selling pressure was witnessed towards midday, the optimistic investors began value hunting and propped up the market.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 591.27 points, or 1.33%, to settle at 44,928.83 points.
A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the stock market witnessed a positive momentum along with improved trading volumes.
Investors seemed to be optimistic in the wake of decline in international oil prices and on expectations of good financial results in the cement sector in the upcoming sessions, it said.
On the flip side, activity remained healthy in third-tier stocks, the report added.
JS Global analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala said that the uptrend continued at the stock market as the KSE-100 index closed at 44,929, gaining 591 points day-on-day.
Traded volumes stood at 415 million shares where K-Electric (+1%), Treet Corp (+6.9%), Telecard Limited (+7.6%), Ghani Global Holdings (+6.5%) and Agritech Limited (+7.1%) cumulatively contributed 39% to the total volumes.
“Going forward, we expect the volatile activity to continue and recommend investors to avail any downside as an opportunity to buy in cement and steel sectors,” the analyst said.
Overall trading volumes increased to 415.6 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 344.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.7 billion.
Shares of 362 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 273 stocks closed higher, 75 declined and 14 remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 56.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.03 to close at Rs3.14. It was followed by Treet Corp with 34.4 million shares, gaining Rs2.2 to close at Rs33.93 and Telecard Limited with 27.3 million shares, gaining Re1 to close at Rs14.17.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs702.2 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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