KARACHI: Bull run continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, as the indices accumulated gains all day long, helping the benchmark KSE-100 index cross the 43,000 mark for the first time since mid-2018.
The index has gained 1,849.49 points in the last two sessions while its one-week return was recorded at 2.08pc. Foreign investors ended the previous session as net buyers with a net inflow of $2.89 million. Major buying was witnessed in the fertiliser sector (a net inflow of $3.38 million).
On the economic front, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves remained almost flat at $18,085 million, as on January 03, 2020. The reserves stood at $18,081 million in the previous week (Dec 27, 2019).
Gathering 718.71 points, the KSE-100 Index touched its intraday high at 43,241.78. It closed higher by 683.98 points at 43,207.05. The KMI-30 Index appreciated by 1,303.90 points to close at 70,790.23, while the KSE All Share Index gained 403.79 points, settling at 30,058.45. Out of the total traded shares, 216 advanced while 110 declined.
Sectors that helped that index accumulate gains included banking (+196.33 points), oil & gas exploration (+194.75 points) and power generation & distribution (+87.29 points). Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +105.32 points), Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC +98.15 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +81.18 points) added maximum points to the index.
The overall trading volumes improved from 362.49 million to 399.62 million. The Bank of Punjab (BOP +6.06pc) once again led the volume chart, followed by TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG -0.39pc) and Unity Foods Limited (UNITY -0.93pc). The scripts had exchanged 52.48 million, 25.77 million and 19.96 million shares, respectively.
In a notification sent to the exchange, ICI Pakistan Limited (ICI +4.53pc) has announced that its subsidiary, NutriCo Morinaga (Private) Ltd, has commenced its commercial operations of Morinaga infant and growing up formula products at its manufacturing facility in Sheikhupura Punjab. The manufacturing facility, with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes per annum, was setup at a cost of Rs5.5 billion.
