Benchmark KSE-100 Index closes the day at 48,227.60
KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bullish on Wednesday after bleeding 956 points in the previous session, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 797.78 points (+1.68 percent) to close at 48,227.6 points.
According to market gurus, the market’s response was triggered by reports indicating increased clarity about the new caretaker setup, alongside the potential approval of the refinery policy by the federal cabinet. They said that stocks concluded on a bullish note also because of the IMF’s approval of a circular debt management plan, accompanied by state-owned enterprises’ corporate dividends issuance.
They also emphasized that the rupee’s recovery, buoyed by positive economic data reflecting a favourable trade deficit for July 2023, played a significant catalyst role in driving the bullish closing trend.
The market opened on a negative note and the indices after tossing between the green and red territories during the first half an hour trading landed in the green for the rest of the session. The last hour buying gave a boost to the indices, helping them recoup most of the previous session’s losses.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,072.16 points showing an intraday high of 48,334.53 points and an intraday low of 47,262.37 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 400.61 points (+1.25 percent) to close at 31,953.32 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 320.80 points (+1.37 percent) to close at 23,344.04 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 14.23 million shares to 183.28 million shares against 197.51 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 23.78 million shares to 312.30 million shares against 336.08 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, OGDC topped the volumes with 37.74 million shares, followed by PPL (22.8 million) and JSBL (21.56 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included OGDC, PPL, JSBL, CNERGY and MLCF, which formed over 37 percent of total volumes.
A total of 335 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 338 a session earlier, out of which shares of 207 closed up, shares of 109 closed down while shares of 19 companies remained unchanged. A total of 95 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 96 a session earlier, out of which share price of 69 companies closed up, 21 closed down and five remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased by 7,079 to 156,140 against 163,219 trades in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs1.76 billion to Rs14.31 billion as compared to the previous session.
In terms of rupee, MEHT remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs48.9 (+7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs701.03. The runner-up remained SIEM, the share price of which climbed up by Rs21.99 (+3.38 percent) to Rs672.99. RMPL remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs439 (-4.88 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,560, followed by MARI, the share price of which fell by Rs77 (-4.58 percent) to close at Rs1,605.33 per share.
The sectors taking the index towards north were commercial banks (200 points), power generation & distribution (151 points), oil & gas exploration companies (147 points), investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (86 points) and cement (75 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained HUBC (132 points), OGDC (119 points), PPL (78 points), DAWH (75 points), and UBL (67 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were miscellaneous (19 points), pharmaceuticals (5 points), automobile parts & accessories (3 points), and property and glass & ceramics (2 points each). The major companies depriving the index of points remained MARI (58 points), PSEL (14 points), RMPL (10 points), and EFERT and SEARL (6 points each).
