KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchanged witnessed a positive start to the trading session on Tuesday, thanks to inertia from the previous session. However, the initial excitement fizzled out soon and the KSE-100 Index eventually paired intraday gains amid profit-taking in selected names.
On the political front, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif left for London on Tuesday, 20 days after he was released on bail.
Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has declared that the “government’s days are numbered” and that the JUI-F’s drive had “successfully mobilised masses” to remove the ruling regime.
On the economic front, Pakistan’s current account surprisingly turned positive after a gap of four years as the inflow of foreign currencies surpassed the outflow by $99 million in October due to a notable reduction in imports and firm worker remittances. The current account balance was last seen in surplus in September 2015.
Cumulatively, in the first four months (Jul-Oct) of the current fiscal year, the current account recorded a deficit of $1.47 billion. It was, however, 73.5pc lower than the deficit of $5.56 billion in the same period of the previous year. The massive drop came due to a significant contraction of the trade deficit in Jul-Oct FY20.
The KSE-100 recorded an intraday high at 38,911.46 after gaining 500 points earlier in the day. However, the rally was short-lived, with the index registering its day’s low at 38,393.61. It ended higher by 152 points at 38,564.37. The KM-30 Index gained 87 points to close at 17,831.68, whereas the KSE All Share Index finished lower by 21 points at 27,226.93. Out of the total traded scripts, 173 advanced, 178 declined while the value of 26 remained unchanged.
Investor participation in terms of volume was recorded at 385 million, down 17.3pc DoD. The traded value was also down by 9.3pc at Rs14.06 billion. K-Electric Limited (KEL), The Bank of Punjab (BOP) and Dost Steels Limited (DSL) led the volume chart, cumulatively exchanging 47 million shares.
Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC +94 points), Pakistan State Oil Limited (PSO +33 points), Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DAWH +27 points) and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL +23 points) remained top contributors to the index.
