KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued with the positive momentum on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 Index closing in the green for the ninth consecutive session.
The massive rally at the stock market had started on June 26 following the surprise State Bank policy rate cut by 100 basis points.
“Positivity was observed across the board on Wednesday, with cement and banking sectors contributing the most,” said a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd. “Investors’ sentiment had also improved after the State Bank’s decision to further reduce the rates for ERF facility to banks, which indicates lowering of financial charges in FY21.”
The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the green throughout the day, registering its intraday high at 35,703.22 after gaining 329.87 points. It closed higher by 321.54 points at 35,694.89.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gathered 208.88 points to end at 56,880.55, while the KSE All Share Index accumulated 201.47 points, settling at 25,562.78. Of the total traded shares, 205 advanced and 110 declined.
The overall market volumes contracted from 333.87 million shares in the previous session to 317.49 million shares. Average traded value, on the contrary, increased by 6pc, from $73.2 million to $78.2 million. TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +7.09pc), Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +2.13pc) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +0.89pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 38.34 million, 20.60 million and 17.50 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that brought positivity to the benchmark index included banking (+162.36 points), automobile assembling (+30.78 points) and technology (+28.60 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Limited (HBL +81.54 points), United Bank Limited (UBL +33.93 points) and Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +27.47 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 2.17pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the automobile assembling sector emerged as the session’s best performer, with Indus Motor Company Limited (INDU +4.16pc), Millat Tractors Limited (MTL +5.62pc), Hinopak Motors Limited (HINO +7.50pc) and Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited (AGTL +2.15pc) closing with decent gains.
Meanwhile, according to a recent PSX announcement, “The Organic Meat Company Limited (TOMC) has conducted its book-building wherein a total of Rs1,371,162,584 was received against the issue size of Rs720,000,000 at a floor price of Rs18 per share. The issue was oversubscribed by 1.9 times. Of 136 participants, 95 became successful investors.”
