230-point rally tosses the market to new highs

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) consolidated gains above the 70,000 points level on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 229.87 points (0.33 percent) to close at 70,544.58 points for the first time in its history.
The market opened flat and witnessed some selling pressure during the initial hours due to geopolitical tensions after Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel. However, the indices recovered during trading in the last couple of hours amid a buying spree. The positive developments on the local front supported the bourse throughout the session.
The KSE-100 has been on a winning run for the past few weeks, hitting record highs as investors count on a monetary easing cycle amid lower inflation figures, higher dollar inflows, and a general improved sentiment on Pakistan’s economy. Moreover, the market also continued to see a bullish trend on hopes for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal. Pakistan’s economic team led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb left for Washington a day earlier to hold talks with the IMF for a new bailout programme.
Talks between Pakistan and the IMF are scheduled for this week in Washington, wherein the government team will request the Fund for approval of a new loan programme. The main ministerial meetings and events will be held from April 17-19.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 694.78 points, showing an intraday high of 70,608.88 points and an intraday low of 69,914.10 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 308.06 points (0.66 percent) to close at 46,350.04 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 207.05 points (0.63 percent) to close at 32,874.70 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased to 255.76 million shares from 219.29 million shares a session earlier, while the overall market volumes increased to 555.21 million shares from the previous session’s 389.40 million shares. Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 88.62 million shares, followed by FCCL (33.1 million) and FFL (30.02 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, FCCL, FFL, CNERGY, and PIAA, which formed over 35 percent of total volumes.
A total of 352 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 351 in the previous session, out of which shares of 179 closed up, shares of 156 companies closed down while shares of 17 companies remained unchanged. A total of 96 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 95 in the previous session, out of which share prices of 45 companies closed up, 49 companies closed down and two remained unchanged. The number of total trades increased to 233,900 from the previous session’s 184,126 trades, while the value traded increased to Rs21.99 billion from Rs17.27 billion.
In terms of rupee, BATA remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs25 (+1.47 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,725. The runner-up remained SAZEW, the share price of which climbed up by Rs23.19 (+4.93 percent) to Rs493.46. MARI remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs26.36 (-1.01 percent) per share, closing at Rs2,595.35, followed by NESTLE, the share price of which fell by Rs22.89 (-0.3 percent) to close at Rs7,525 per share.- TLTP