KARACHI: Share prices jumped on Thursday as investors welcomed the new report that the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Middle East and Central Asia expressed confidence about the early signing of a staff-level agreement.
However, some investors booked their gains before the long weekend in the later hours of the trading session, Topline Securities said.
Another reason for optimism was the trend in the latest Pakistan Investment Bonds auction, showing interest rates have hit their peak, said JS Global.
According to Arif Habib Ltd, political instability played a role in discouraging investors who stayed cautious while slow activity marred trading. The volume remained flat across the board.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,205.54 points, up 79.49 points or 0.2 per cent from the preceding session.
The overall trading volume increased 11.7pc to 89.2 million shares. The traded value went up 8.3pc to $9.7m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (7.7m shares), K-Electric Ltd (4.2m shares), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (3.9m shares), Oil and Gas Development Company (3.9m shares) and Silkbank Ltd (3.8m shares).
Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were commercial banking (30.4 points), power generation and distribution (20.8 points), cement (18 points), exploration and production (-11 points) and technology and communication (8.8 points).
Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs80.15), Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs29.99), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs25.23), Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs14.69) and Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs13.99).
Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs25.45), Towellers Ltd (Rs23.60), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs20.82), Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs12.44) and Punjab Oil Mills Ltd (Rs8.12).
Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.34m.
Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2023
from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/r2KDoYL