Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured a lacklustre trading session on Thursday in the absence of major positive triggers, though the KSE-100 index managed to close in the green with the addition of around 150 points.
The market opened the day down, touching its intra-day low of 79,708.87 points in the first hour, and continued to fluctuate between red and green zones. Many investors stood on sidelines due to the absence of positive cues.
A surge in June remittances to $3.16 billion, reflecting a 44.4% year-on-year (YoY) growth, boosted investor confidence. Additionally, upbeat data of auto sales, which recorded a 120% YoY increase in June, contributed to the positive sentiment at the bourse.
Consequently, the index touched its intra-day high of 80,114.72 points towards the close of trading.
The government’s determination to resolve the energy sector’s circular debt crisis also aided investor interest in the stock market. The index after wildly oscillating throughout the day managed to recover and close the session in the green.
“Stocks showed some recovery, led by oil, banking and auto sectors, on a strong earnings outlook,” said Ahsan Mehanti, MD of Arif Habib Corp.
“Government’s resolve to settle the energy sector circular debt, a surge in remittances to $3.2 billion, up 44.4% YoY in June 2024, and upbeat data of auto sales, which soared 120% YoY in June played the role of catalysts in bullish close at the PSX.”
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 150.80 points, or 0.19%, and settled at 79,992.35.
Topline Securities, in its report, stated that the stock market showed a mixed pattern as the KSE-100 index peaked earlier in the day before settling with a modest increase.
Driving the positive momentum were sectors like fertiliser, power, IT, and banking, where companies including Fauji Fertiliser Company, Hub Power, Systems Limited, Habib Bank and the National Bank of Pakistan collectively contributed 377 points, Topline added.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, observed that the KSE-100 index was still hovering around the 80,000 level while heading into the last session of the week. The index was so far down 0.36% week-on-week.
During the day, 38 shares rose while 60 fell with Hubco (+3.38%), Fauji Fertiliser Company (+2.08%) and Systems Limited (+3.06%) being the biggest contributors to the index gains.
On the other hand, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (-1.24%), United Bank Limited (-0.7%) and MCB Bank (-0.93%) were the largest drags.
“Ideally a strong close back above 80,000 would set the tone for further upside next week, which will be shortened due to Ashura holidays on July 17 and 18,” AHL added.
JS Global analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala wrote that a lacklustre activity was observed at the bourse as investors preferred to stay on sidelines in the absence of major triggers.
“Moving forward, we may see some activity in the market following the announcement of corporate results and developments related to the IMF programme,” the JS analyst said.
Overall trading volumes decreased to 389.02 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 495.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day stood at Rs20.9 billion.
Shares of 445 companies were traded. Of these, 181 stocks closed higher, 212 fell and 52 remained unchanged.
Agritech Limited was the volume leader with trading in 22.04 million shares, gaining Rs0.1 to close at Rs24.24. It was followed by Hub Power with 18.6 million shares, gaining Rs5.35 to close at Rs163.75 and Air Link Communication with 16.8 million shares, gaining Rs5.62 to close at Rs100.64.
Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth Rs265.2 million, according to the NCCPL.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ