Market gains 50 points in low volume, range-bound session

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended gains for the fourth consecutive day in a low-volume and range-bound session on Monday, with the KSE-100 Index gaining 49.68 points (+0.11 percent) to close at 45,803.19 points.
The market opened on a positive note but indices tossed between green and red territories throughout the session. The session remained lacklustre due to the recent hike in the prices of petrol by Rs26.02 per litre and high speed diesel by Rs17.34 per litre as well as expected hike in gas tariff to cut circular debt; however, these developments kept the oil & gas exploration and marketing companies in the green.
The investors also weighed the impact of the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision to keep the policy rate unchanged at 22 percent. The market remained somewhat unaffected from rupee’s consistent appreciation against the US dollar in the interbank and open market. This indicated a lack of confidence among investors in the market.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 244.38 points, showing an intraday high of 45,907.08 points and an intraday low of 45,662.7 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 22.61 points (+0.07 percent) to close at 30,495.51 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 5.51 points (+0.02 percent) to close at 22,201.17 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 101.69 million shares to 38.48 million shares against 140.17 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 119.03 million shares to 103.50 million shares against 222.53 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, PRL topped the volumes with 7.87 million shares, followed by SEARLR2 (7.35 million) and AGL (6.30 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included PRL, SEARLR2, AGL, WTL, and DGKC, which formed over 30 percent of total volumes.
A total of 307 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 317 a session earlier, out of which shares of 133 closed up, shares of 144 closed down while shares of 30 companies remained unchanged. A total of 92 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 93 a session earlier, out of which share price of 40 companies closed up, 48 closed down and four remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased by 34,881 to 72,657 as compared to 107,538 trades recorded in the previous session, while the value traded decreased by R7.76 billion to Rs3.3 billion as compared to Rs11.06 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, KHTC remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs24.98 (+7.13 percent) per share, closing at Rs375.32. The runner-up remained MARI, the share price of which climbed up by Rs18.6 (+1.21 percent) to Rs1,550.4. MEHT remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs43.53 (-7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs536.97, followed by NESTLE, the share price of which fell by Rs22.5 (-0.32 percent) to close at Rs7,000 per share.- TLTP