KARACHI: Continuing its bull run, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended previous sessions’ gains on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 724.99 points (+1.23 percent) to close at 59,811.34 points.
The market opened on a positive note but traded sideways during the first half of the session. Later, the bulls returned and the indices remained in the green territory for the rest of the session. The ongoing bullish trend comes amid the country’s improved economic indicators and the interim government’s successful negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the first review, which will unlock $700 million in funding.
According to analysts, the market has maintained the momentum and it is projected that the benchmark will hit 75,000 points over the next 13 months in December 2024. The forecast is based on three major developments in the near future, including a potential cut in interest rate by seven percentage points to 15pc by the end of December 2024 from a record high of 22pc at present; general elections are expected to be held on time in February 2024; and the newly elected government would acquire a new and larger IMF loan programme to push the economy into a growth phase from the current stabilization phase.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 896.72 points, showing an intraday high of 59,896.08 points and an intraday low of 58,999.30 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 387.88 points (+0.97 percent) to close at 39,947.09 points. Similarly,the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 109.90 points (+0.37 percent) to close at 29,310.48 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 12.31 million to 276.86 million shares against 289.17 million shares a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 0.84 million shares to 657.58 million shares against 658.42 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KOSM topped the volumes with 109.39 million shares, followed by WTL (43.31 million) and YOUW (22.76 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KOSM, WTL, YOUW, MLCF, and DGKC, which formed over 31 percent of total volumes.
A total of 387 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 385 companies a session earlier, out of which shares of 243 closed up, shares of 119 companies closed down while shares of 25 companies remained unchanged. A total of 97 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 98 a session earlier, out of which share prices of 66 companies closed up, 27 companies closed down and four remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased to 220,793 from 247,259 a session earlier, while the value traded decreased by Rs1.75 billion to Rs20.27 billion against Rs22.02 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, HPL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs88.11 (+7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,263. The runner-up remained ISIL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs75.12 (+7.5 percent) to Rs1,076.72. NESTLE remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs117.5 (-1.37 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,450, followed by RMPL, the share price of which fell by Rs91.97 (-0.88 percent) to close at Rs10,390.38 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained commercial banks (379 points), cement (110 points), miscellaneous (53 points), textile composite (40 points), and fertilizer (34 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained HBL (135 points), UBL (102 points), MCB (83 points), PSEL (38 points), and LUCK (35 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were technology & communication (36 points), chemical (8 points), oil & gas marketing companies (5 points), and glass & ceramics and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (4 points each). The major companies depriving the index of points remained MARI (37 points), MEBL (34 points), SYS (33 points), PSO (11 points), and NESTLE (8 points). – TLTP