KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned positive on Thursday amid hopes of revival of the IMF programme, though volumes remained very low due to ongoing political chaos in the country.
The market opened on a sharp positive note and remained positive throughout the session. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 250.68 points (+0.61 percent) to close at 41,325.63 points.
A spokesperson for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Washington-based lender remains engaged with Pakistan on securing funding and policy assurances with the goal of reaching an agreement on the ninth review of the $6.7 billion loan agreed in 2019. The remarks come after violent clashes between supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan and police broke out across the country after Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency arrested the former prime minister on Tuesday last.
The IMF statement overshadowed the political noise following former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest as well as other issues including rupee’s massive depreciation against the US dollar, high inflation, depleting foreign exchange reserves, and economic uncertainty.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 423.82 points, showing an intraday high of 41,498.77 and a low of 41,074.95 points (the previous day closing point). Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 117.83 points (+0.43 percent) to close at 27,303.45 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 76.04 points (+0.39 percent) to close at 19,681.30 points.
The overall market volumes decreased by 3.1 million to 96.08 million shares against 99.18 million shares a session earlier. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 38.58 million against 53.04 million a session earlier, showing a decrease of 14.46 million shares.
A total of 316 companies traded shares in the stock exchange as compared to 324 a day earlier. Out of traded companies, shares of 182 closed up, shares of 107 closed down while shares of 27 companies remained unchanged. A total of 88 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 95 a day earlier, out of which shares of 63 companies closed up, 22 closed down and three remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased by 3,326 to 55,023 against 58,349 a session earlier, while the value traded decreased by Rs0.41 billion to Rs2.89 billion. Overall market capitalisation increased by Rs26.80 billion.
Among scrips, MLCF topped the volumes with 3.79 million shares, followed by SNGP (2.41 million) and OGDC (2.2 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included MLCF, SNGP, OGDC, DGKC and HBL, which formed around 13 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, PKGS remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs22.83 (+6.68 percent) per share, closing at Rs364.55. The runner-up remained MARI, the share price of which climbed up by Rs16.5 (+1.07 percent) to Rs1,554. NESTLE remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs100 (-1.72 percent) per share, closing at Rs5,700, followed by LCI, the share price of which fell by Rs8.75 (-1.47 percent) to close at Rs585.95 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards north were cement (63 points), oil & gas exploration companies (49 points), commercial banks (42 points), fertilizers (32 points) and technology & communication (23 points). The most points added to the index were by LUCK (40 points), HBL (28 points), POL (25 points), and ENGRO and PKGS (20 points each).
The sectors taking the index towards south were property (8 points), glass & ceramics and leather & tanneries (2 points) and food & personal care products (1 point). The index was deprived of points mostly by MEBL (9 points), JVDC and HMB (8 points), NESTLE (6 points) and LCI (3 points).
