KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reached a historic milestone on Tuesday when its benchmark index crossed the 70,000 points level for the first time in history, closing at 70,314.71 points with a gain of 694.73 points (1 percent).
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 market crosses 70k mark amid positive news on Saudi investment and deposits,” said Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, in a note. “Continuous foreign buying also helping equities. KSE-100 is now up almost 70% from June end,” he added.
His reference to Saudi investment comes after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia affirmed their commitment to expediting the first wave of an investment package worth $5 billion, and also emphasized the Kingdom’s supportive role in Pakistan’s economy and the mutual desire to strengthen trade and investment ties.
Samiullah Tariq, head of research at Pak-Kuwait Investment Company, said that the market is hopeful of a new IMF deal. He also attributed the gain to high remittances and expectations of good company results to be announced for the March end quarter.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 820.15 points, showing an intraday high of 70,677.29 points and an intraday low of 69,857.14 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 344.79 points (0.75 percent) to close at 46,041.98 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 195.56 points (0.60 percent) to close at 32,667.65 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 219.29 million shares, while the overall market volumes remained 389.40 million shares. Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 34.37 million shares, followed by PIBTL (27.82 million) and PIAA (19.04 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, PIBTL, PIAA, FFL, and AGL, which formed over 27 percent of total volumes.
A total of 351 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of which shares of 180 closed up, shares of 156 companies closed down while shares of 15 companies remained unchanged. A total of 95 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which share prices of 60 companies closed up, 34 companies closed down and one remained unchanged. The number of total trades remained 184,126, while the value traded remained Rs17.27 billion.
In terms of rupee, RMPL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs100 (+1.21 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,350. The runner-up remained MARI, the share price of which climbed up by Rs55.85 (+2.18 percent) to Rs2,621.71. SAPT remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs60 (-4.26 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,350, followed by BATA, the share price of which fell by Rs50 (-2.86 percent) to close at Rs1,700 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained fertilizer (270 points), commercial banks (170 points), oil & gas exploration companies (65 points), oil & gas marketing companies (60 points), power and distribution companies (54 points), cement (44 points), automobile assemblers (39 points), and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (20points).
Major companies adding points to the index remained FFC (231 points), MEBL (80 points), HUBC (58 points), EFERT (52 points), MARI (47 points), UBL and PSO (45 points each), and MTL (40 points).
The major sectors taking the index towards south remained technology and communication (25 points), and food and personal care products (5 points).
Major companies depriving the index of points remained ENGRO (40 points), MCB (28 points), SYS and BAFL (23 points each), HBL and TRG (12 points each), LUCK (8 points), and SEARL and ILP (7 points each). – TLTP