PSX gains 395pts after COAS allays investors’ concerns

KARACHI, : Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended gains for the second straight session on Monday on the back of assurances by the army chief regarding ensuring transparency in the foreign exchange rate and efforts to revive economy, with the KSE-100 Index gaining 394.77 points (+0.87 percent) to close at 45,707.42 points.

The market opened on a positive note and remained positive throughout the session. The market experts attributed the recovery to the army chief’s assurance over transparency in dollar rates and for bringing exchange companies into the tax net. All these things have brought positivity and confidence among investors.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir met the business community in Lahore and Karachi on Sunday and assured them of bringing money exchanges under the purview of taxation, and fostering transparency in dollar exchange and interbank rates. The army chief also revealed during the meeting that task forces focused on economic matters and different sectors had been formed to bolster economic decision-making. The COAS assured that all the attention was on the economy currently and measures are being taken which will come forth in the upcoming days. He stressed on increasing investments in the agricultural and mining sectors and expressed zero tolerance against smuggling.

The benchmark index traded in a range of 476.09 points showing an intraday high of 45,788.74 points and an intraday low of 45,312.65 points, which was the LDCP. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 210.64 points (+0.69 percent) to close at 30,454.17 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 224.08 points (+1.02 percent) to close at 21,987.31 points.

Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 0.43 million shares to 55.26 million shares against 55.69 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 22.57 million shares to 139.25 million shares against 161.82 million shares traded a session earlier.

Among scrips, ASC topped the volumes with 11.27 million shares, followed by WTL (11.21 million) and DFML (8.85 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included ASC, WTL, DFML, CNERGY, and PRL which formed over 33 percent of total volumes.

A total of 311 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 290 a session earlier, out of which shares of 187 closed up, shares of 103 closed down while shares of 21 companies remained unchanged. A total of 93 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 91 a session earlier, out of which share price of 73 companies closed up, 15 closed down and five remained unchanged.

The number of total trades decreased by 878 to 87,137 as compared to 88,015 trades recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs0.02 billion to Rs4.48 billion as compared to Rs4.46 billion in the previous session.

In terms of rupee, COLG remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs31.31 (+2.47 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,298.3. The runner-up remained AABS, the share price of which climbed up by Rs23.98 (+4.99 percent) to Rs504.99. MEHT remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs47.55 (-7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs586.45, followed by ARPL, the share price of which fell by Rs27.58 (-5.72 percent) to close at Rs454.42 per share.

The major sector taking the index towards north remained fertilizer (86 points), oil & gas exploration companies (57 points), cement (38 points), power generation & distribution (35 points), and oil & gas marketing companies (31 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained ENGRO (54 points), HUBC (34 points), PPL (25

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