KARACHI: Lacklustre activity was witnessed in the first half of the session at the Pakistan stock market, as investors were unhappy over Rs120 billion relief package announced by the prime minister, which did not live up to the expectations, dealers said.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks showed recovery, as investors weighed strong data on oil sales, surging 17 per cent and exports up 17.5 per cent in October 2021.
“Speculations ahead of the IMF deal, the rupee stability and record financial results in the banking, fertilisers and oil sectors played a catalytic role in the bullish close.”
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index gained 0.4 per cent, or 186.74 points, to close at 47,219.18 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.4 per cent, or 72.86 points to close at 18,347.20 points.
As many as 379 scrips were active, of which 235 advanced, 125 declined and 19 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 561.9 million shares, compared with the turnover of 380.5 million shares in the last trading session.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market continued to remain range-bound due to the concerns over uptick in Richard Bay coal price, food inflation and resumption of foreign selling spree.
“[The] activity remained sideways, as the market witnessed hefty volumes in the third tier stocks. [The] technology sector continued to remain in the limelight throughout the day, as [the] traders again placed bet on high-beta stocks to mark quick gains.”
On the flip-side, institutional activity stayed lacklustre. In the last trading hour, buying was observed in the banking sector and the index managed to close above 47,000 points.
The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Colgate Palmolive, up Rs129.99 to close at Rs2,749.99/share; and Sapphire Fiber, up Rs54.84 to close at Rs787.5/share.
The companies that reflected the most losses included Rafhan Maize, down Rs200 to close at Rs9,500/share; and Nestle Pakistan, down Rs144.98 to close at Rs5,855.02/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 81.04 million shares. The scrip gained 22 paisas to close at Rs2.66/share; followed by Byco Petroleum with a turnover of 30.35 million shares. It gained 33 paisas to close at Rs7.98/share. Telecard Limited remained the third with a turnover of 26.59 million shares. It gained 98 paisas to finish at Rs18.2.