KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to witness bull-run on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 359.16 points (+0.80 percent) to close at 45,514.95 points.
The benchmark index has gained 4,062.27 points in the last eight trading sessions after the signing of the long-standing staff-level agreement with the IMF on a $3 billion 9-month stand-by arrangement (SBA).
The development comes a day after the benchmark index, boosted by the $2 billion inflows deposited by Saudi Arabia in Pakistan’s central bank, rallied to over 45,000 for the first time since April 2022.
Across-the-board buying was witnessed in index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and oil marketing companies, while the pharmaceutical and technology sectors remained in the red.
The sentiment remained positive and both volume and value of shares traded improved significantly compared to the previous session as investors actively hunted for stocks that have undergone a volatile ride in the absence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
The investors remained hopeful that the IMF’s executive board would approve the 9-month stand-by arrangement (SBA) of $3 billion for Pakistan on Wednesday. After the approval of the IMF board, Pakistan will get an installment of $1.1 billion.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 381.95 points showing an intraday high of 45,582.30 points and an intraday low of 45,200.35 points.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 238.51 points (+0.78 percent) to close at 30,449.75 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 247.97 points (+1.11 percent) to close at 22,358.81 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 206.71 million shares. The overall market volumes decreased to 450.26 million shares against 555.1 million shares a session earlier.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 49.96 million shares, followed by UNITY (20.35 million) and PIBTL (18.20 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, UNITY, PIBTL, PRL, and ASL, which formed over 27 percent of total volumes.
A total of 355 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 171 closed up, shares of 161 closed down while shares of 23 companies remained unchanged.
A total of 97 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which shares of 49 companies closed up, 42 closed down and six remained unchanged. The number of total trades remained 171,474, while the value traded decreased by Rs2.35 billion to Rs13.14 billion.
In terms of rupee, RMPL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs315.05 (+3.66 percent) per share, closing at R8,913. The runner-up remained COLG, the share price of which climbed up by Rs73.78 (+6.14 percent) to Rs1,275.83. UPFL remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs548.9 (-2.34 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,901, followed by RCML, the share price of which fell by Rs37 (-7.47 percent) to close at Rs458 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards north were commercial banks (183 points), power generation & distribution (71 points), oil & gas exploration companies (61 points), chemical (59 points), and cement (18 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained MEBL (86 points), HUBC (67 points), COLG (50 points), LUCK (34 points), and MCB (33 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were technology & communication (21 points), investment banks / investment companies/ securities companies with (11 points), engineering and glass & ceramics (10 points), and paper & board (6 points).
The major companies depriving the index of points remained TRG (17 points), DAWH (11 points), CHCC (9 points), GHGL and FCCL (7 points each).
