KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to head north on Thursday, with the benchmark index managing to touch 46,000 level intraday amid positive sentiments.
Global equity markets displayed a mixed pattern, whereas crude oil prices slipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price declining 1.60pc to $60.19, while Brent crude price falling 1.37pc to $63.53 (as at 4:14pm PST).
“The market reacted positively to the IMF’s nod for disbursement of 3rd loan tranche to Pakistan, with buying activity mainly observed in tech, refinery and cement sectors,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. “Telecom sector had PTC as the leading stock following the sale of Dhabi Group’s stake in Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited, while power sector saw KAPCO performing on the expectation of release of funds related to circular debt. Similarly, chemical sector saw active trades in EPCL mainly due to healthy product margins.”
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the green throughout the session, registering its intraday high at 46,000.11 after gaining 455.91 points. It settled higher by 181.96 points at 45,726.16. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index fell 48.53 points to close at 74,866.44, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 92.32 points, ending at 31,184.60.
The overall market volumes appreciated from 409.67 million shares in the previous session to 470.38 million shares (+15pc). Average traded value also inched up 1pc, from $165.2 million to $166.6 million. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTC +6.20pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +6.31pc) and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO +1.01pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 61.35 million, 39.01 million and 38.40 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that kept the benchmark index afloat included tech and communication (118.06 points), cement (30.02 points) and automobile assembling (24.55 points). Among the companies, TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG 107.27 points), Azgard Nine Ltd (ANL 20.91 points) and Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK 17.14 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 1.55pc to its cumulative market capitalisation, the automobile assembling sector ended as the session’s top performer, with Indus Motor Company Ltd (INDU 2.58pc), Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Ltd (HCAR 4.13pc) and Pakistan Suzuki Motors Company Ltd (PSMC 4.44pc) posting decent gains.
Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, Hi-Tech Lubricants Ltd (HTL -0.81pc) announced that it has entered into a “non-exclusive agreement” with Osman Ghani Ltd (an Afghanistan-based company) for export of locally blended ZIC Brand products.
