Pakistan

PSX reaches new high with 331-point gain

KSE-100 index reaches impressive 80,564.95 during intra-day trading, up from the previous 80,233 points

News Desk July 04, 2024

Segregation of client assets is critical as brokers have been penalised for using client money illegally. PHOTO: AFP

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gained 331 points to reach an impressive 80,564.95 during intra-day trading at 11:50am on Thursday, up from the previous 80,233 points.

The surge reflects a continued bullish trend, marking a 0.41% increase from the previous session. The rise has bolstered investor confidence and demonstrated robust market activity.

The record-breaking points have also been buoyed by expectations of substantial dividend payouts and securing a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in about a month.

The upward momentum was also driven by trade numbers, which showed an increase of 10.54% in exports to $30.7 billion and the narrowing of trade deficit by 12.3% to $24.09 billion in the just-ended fiscal year 2023-24.

Read PSX hits historic milestone, closes above 80,000 points for first time

Positive activity was seen across all sectors and the index eventually settled at 80,234, up 681 points day-on-day.

“We recommend investors to view any downside as an opportunity to buy stocks in the cement, exploration and production, and technology sectors,” the analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala said on Wednesday.

Overall trading volumes increased to 536.6 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 413.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day stood at Rs22.7 billion.

Shares of 447 companies were traded. Of these, 256 stocks closed higher, 135 fell and 56 remained unchanged.

The banking sector also saw a strong investor interest, with Samba Bank, Askari Bank, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and JS Bank ending the day positively. Key positive contributors were HBL, Pakistan Oilfields, Hubco, NBP and Systems Limited, which collectively added 388 points, Topline said.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, highlighted that the KSE-100 index broke above the 80,000 mark. Some 65 shares advanced while 31 declined with HBL (+5.15%), Pakistan Oilfields (+4.35%) and Hubco (+1.69%) leading the index’s gains.