KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) made decent gains for the second straight day amid hopes of revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme and release of former prime minister Imran Khan, though volumes remained low.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 161.95 points (+0.39 percent) to close at 41,487.58 points. The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 349.76 points, showing an intraday high of 41,649.15 and a low of 41,299.39.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 103.07 points (+0.38 percent) to close at 27,406.52 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 90.17 points (+0.46 percent) to close at 19,771.47 points.
The market turned negative soon after opening and remained in the red zone for the next one hour; however, the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropped by 26 points. Later, the market remained positive throughout the session. The market hit its day-high soon after the Islamabad High Court granted bail to Imran Khan in Al-Qadir Trust case but failed to sustain this due to profit-taking activity as Friday was the last session of the week.
The overall market volumes decreased by 6.66 million to 89.42 million shares against 96.08 million shares a session earlier. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 50.16 million against 38.58 million a session earlier, showing an increase of 11.58 million shares.
A total of 317 companies traded shares in the stock exchange as compared to 316 a day earlier. Out of traded companies, shares of 177 closed up, shares of 111 closed down while shares of 29 companies remained unchanged. A total of 91 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 88 a day earlier, out of which shares of 60 companies closed up, 28 closed down and three remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased by 3,891 to 58,914 against 55,023 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs0.51 billion to Rs3.4 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 9.54 million shares, followed by MLCF (5.4 million) and SNGP (4.16 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, MLCF, SNGP, OGDC, and DGKC, which formed over 29 percent of total volumes.
In terms of rupee, NESTLE remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs100 (+1.75 percent) per share, closing at Rs5,800. The runner-up remained SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs75.23 (+7.49 percent) to Rs1,078.99. BHAT remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs70.76 (-6.26 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,060, followed by ZIL, the share price of which fell by Rs24.75 (-7.5 percent) to close at R305.25 per share.
A spokesperson for the 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.
