Stocks bullish on Dar’s remarks

Benchmark KSE-100 index gains 279.35 points to settle at 41,819.29

KARACHI:

Bulls returned to Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday following Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s remarks that brushed off rumours about the ninth review of IMF loan programme.

The stock market kicked off trading on a positive note as Dar announced that his team was in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Investors cheered the dismissal of rumours about financial emergency and pushed the benchmark KSE-100 index upwards, which touched an intra-day high of 41,900.81 points. Lower international oil prices further boosted investor confidence and the day closed in the green.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 279.35 points, or 0.67%, to settle at 41,819.29.

Topline Securities, in its report, said that Pakistan equities closed positive where the KSE-100 index settled at 41,819 (up 0.67%). “Investors cheered the lower international oil prices while Finance Minister Ishaq Dar gave clarity that his team was engaged with three major IMF shareholders for support for the bailout package,” it said.

Dar dismissed rumours of an imminent financial emergency, which led the market to touch an intra-day high of 360 points.

Major gainers were Bank AL Habib, Pakistan Services, Lucky Cement, TRG Pakistan and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines, which added a total of 162 points to the index, Topline added.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, said that the KSE-100 index finally ended its losing streak and traded in the green for the entire day.

“Following a clarification by the Finance Division regarding the ninth review of the IMF programme, the market opened in the green and maintained its positive trend throughout the day,” it said.

Sectors contributing to the performance included cement (+54.1 points), commercial banks (+48.5 points), technology and communications (+48.4 points), miscellaneous (+37.3 points) and OMCs (+26.4 points), the AHL report added.

JS Research analyst Muhammad Shuja Qureshi said that recovery continued at the market as the index gained 279 points.

“We believe that the recovery trend is expected to continue, barring any negative news, and the index can target 42,000-42,100,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes increased to 221.5 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 131.7 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.9 billion.

Shares of 334 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 196 stocks closed higher, 111 declined and 27 remained unchanged.

Dewan Cement was the volume leader with 29.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.5 to close at Rs6.04. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 21.5 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs1.36 and Kohinoor Spinning with 13.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs3.15.

Foreign investors were net buyers of Rs51.4 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2022.

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