KARACHI: Breaking its three-day losing streak, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the last trading session of the week in green. Foreign investors continued buying on Thursday and recorded a net inflow of $0.601 million.
According to the latest data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank inflated by 8.81pc on a weekly basis and were recorded at $8.84 billion. The bank recently received $1 billion as part of a financial assistance package from the United Arab Emirates.
Moreover, as per reports, Pakistan is all set to receive $2.1 billion loan from China in the coming week. The injection of funds is expected to increase foreign currency reserves to double digits after almost a year.
After accumulating 336.33 points, the KSE 100 index benchmark climbed to its intraday high of 38,721.05 during the first half of trading. The index ended higher by 147.15 points at 38,531.87. The KMI 30 index settled at 62,969.17 after gathering 491.17 points, whereas the KSE All Share index also managed to gain 96.55 points, closing day at 28,197.59.
The market volumes were recorded at 84.64 million. Pakgen Power Limited (PKGP +5.33pc) led the volume chart with 12.37 million shares exchanging hands following the announcement of its financial results for FY18. A final cash dividend of Rs1.50 was also declared by the company. Its sales declined by 17.9pc YoY, whereas earnings per share increased by 13pc from Rs3.53 in FY17 to Rs3.99 in the current year.
The Bank of Punjab (BOP +0.62pc) and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +2.98) also managed to secure positions amongst volume leaders. The scripts had traded 12.17 million shares and 5.32 million shares respectively.
Among other market development, the prime minister, in a conversation with a group of journalists, said that Exxon Mobil, a major oil company drilling in Arabian Sea, is in final stages of its exploration and would soon give “good news” to the country.
The oil and gas exploration sector gathered 2.79pc in its cumulative market capitalization. Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +3.95pc), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +2.98pc) and Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL +1.82pc) all ended positive.
