KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned green on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 86.21 points (0.21 percent) and closing the week on a positive note at 41,352.98 points.
The market opened on a positive note amid thin volumes and remained in the green during the first session, as investors’ sentiment remained positive over budget proposals being put forward by the government.
The market hit the day-high at the opening of the second session but remained volatile. Due to uncertainties on economic and political fronts, the investors opted to remain sideways. Due to profit-taking activity, the indices turned to the south in the last hour trading; however, the last 20-minute trading brought back the indices to the north.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 166.02 points, showing an intraday high of 41,403.43 points and a low of 41,237.41 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 76.80 points (+0.28 percent) to close at 27,699.53 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 26.58 points (+0.13 percent) to close at 20,046.65 points.
The overall market volumes decreased by 0.4 million to 99.55 million shares against 99.95 million shares a session earlier. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 67.59 million against 49.18 million a session earlier, showing an increase of 18.41 million shares.
Among scrips, PIBTL topped the volumes with 10.35 million shares, followed by WTL (9.4 million) and DGKC (8.13 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included PIBTL, WTL, DGKC, MLCF and BAFL, which formed over 36 percent of total volumes.
A total of 295 companies traded shares in the stock exchange as compared to 300 a session earlier. Out of traded companies, shares of 146 closed up, shares of 119 closed down while shares of 30 companies remained unchanged. A total of 89 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 88 a session earlier, out of which shares of 46 companies closed up, 35 closed down and eight remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased by 460 to 57,735 against 57,275 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs0.48 billion to Rs3.34 billion.
In terms of rupee, SFL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs59.98 (5 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,259.98. The runner-up remained BATA, the share price of which climbed up by Rs48.5 (+2.95 percent) to Rs1,694. UPFL remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs449 (-2 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,050, followed by KHYT, the share price of which fell by Rs47.25(-7.5 percent) to close at Rs582.75 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards north were commercial banks (59 points), cement (33 points), investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (17 points), power generation & distribution (14 points), and chemicals (13 points). The major companies adding points to the index were UBL (69 points), DAWH (19 points), DGKC (17 points), HUBC (16 points), and LOTCHEM (14 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were fertilizer (49 points), oil & gas exploration companies (19 points), miscellaneous (8 points), pharmaceuticals (4 points), and refinery (2 points). The companies which deprived the index of most of the points included ENGRO (54 points), HBL (16 points), POL (13 points), EFERT (10 points), and PSEL (9 points).
