KARACHI : Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off the new year with a bang and surged for the fourth straight session on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 2,210.74 points (+3.54 percent) to close at 64,661.78 points.
The market opened on a positive note but and remained in the green territory throughout the session. The massive surge came on the back of interest in the index-heavy oil and gas sector with shares such as OGDC, PPL, PSO and SNGP, among others, hitting the upper lock. Buying was also witnessed in other index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, and commercial banks, among others.
According to experts, buying came on the back of improved macroeconomic indicators. They said that new year’s institutional flows, better Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) revenue collection numbers, and increase in foreign exchange reserves gave confidence to investors. The FBR provisionally collected a record Rs 4,468 billion during the first six months (July-December) of the current fiscal year 2023-24 against the assigned target of Rs4,425 billion for this period, reflecting an increase of Rs43 billion. The revenue collection body created history by collecting Rs1,021 billion in December 2023. The investor sentiment was further bolstered after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) finalized its schedule to include Pakistan on its Executive Board agenda on January 11, 2024.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 2,045.95 points, showing an intraday high of 64,718.88 points and an intraday low of 62,672.96 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 1,308.46 points (+3.03 percent) to close at 43,224.73 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 1,029.95 points (+3.25 percent) to close at 31,694.06 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 22.82 million shares to 339.90 million shares against 362.72 million traded in the previous session. However, the overall market volumes increased by 34.53 million shares to 625.12 million shares against 590.59 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 76.43 million shares, followed by WTL (61.55 million) and CNERGY (54.95 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, WTL, CNERGY, BOP, and FFL, which formed over 40 percent of total volumes.
A total of 377 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 359 in the previous session, out of which shares of 326 closed up, shares of 36 companies closed down while shares of 15 companies remained unchanged. A total of 96 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 97 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 91 companies closed up, 4 companies closed down and one remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased to 226,156 from 202,931 recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs1.69 billion to Rs18.53 against Rs16.84 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs300 (+1.37 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,200. The runner-up remained HPL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs88.47 (+7.37 percent) to Rs1,288.47. BTL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs19.99 (-5.88 percent) per share, closing at Rs320.01, followed by BATA, the share price of which fell by Rs10.08 (-0.58 percent) to close at Rs1722.15 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained oil & gas exploration companies (454 points), commercial banks (439points), technology & communication (227 points), cement (179 points), power generation and distribution (176 points), oil & gas marketing companies (173 points), fertilizer (172 points), automobile assemblers (56
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