KARACHI, : Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bullish on Friday for the second session in a row, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 366.71 points (0.73 percent) to close at 50,731.86 points.
The KSE-100 Index closed at its highest level for the first time since May 22, 2017. The market opened on a positive note but took a dip soon to hit the day’s low within the first half an hour trading. However, the bulls returned and the indices switched back to positive and remained in green territory for the rest of the session.
The positive sentiment was fuelled by treasury bills’ auction on Wednesday. The auction saw the highest-ever participation in the one-year treasury bills, with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) receiving bids worth Rs2.155 trillion. This suggests that the market is anticipating a relatively stable or downward trend in interest rates.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 619.92 points, showing an intraday high of 50,952.67 points and an intraday low of 50,332.75 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 62.50 points (+0.19 percent) to close at 33,689.02 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 53.13 points (+0.22 percent) to close at 24,665.60 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 39.17 million to 209.96 million shares against 249.13 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes increased by 2.55 million shares to 430.03 million shares against 427.48 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, PRL topped the volumes with 42.47 million shares, followed by KEL (35.75 million) and WTL (31.02 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included PRL. KEL, WTL, GGL, and BOP, which formed around 32 percent of total volumes.
A total of 350 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 361 a session earlier, out of which shares of 188 closed up, shares of 145 closed down while shares of 17 companies remained unchanged. A total of 93 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 98 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 50 companies closed up, 41 closed down and one remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased by 9,049 to 187,774 from 178,725 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs0.02 billion to Rs14.61 billion against Rs14.59 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, PHDL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs35.72 (+7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs512.25. The runner-up remained HINO, the share price of which climbed up by Rs19.42 (+7.2 percent) to Rs289. NESTLE remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs190 (-2.57 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,200, followed by PAKT, the share price of which fell by Rs38.93 (-5.2 percent) to close at Rs736 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained commercial banks (127 points), power generation & distribution (116 points), fertilizer (86 points), cement (29 points), and technology & communication (25 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained HUBC (126 points), FFC (39 points), BAHL (32 points), EFERT (30 points), and HBL (28 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were food & personal care products (26 points), oil & gas exploration companies (25 points), tobacco (14 points), investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (11 points), and automobile assembler (7 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained PAKT (14 points), UNITY (13 points), OGDC (13 points), NESTLE (13 points), and KEL (9 points).
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