KARACHI: The Pakistan equity market traded in the green territory throughout the day on Tuesday on the reports that all the issues have been settled with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of $6 billion Extended Fund Facility where the formal agreement is expected in a day or two, dealers said.
“Moreover, Pakistan’s exports grew 17.5 per cent to $2.47 in October 2021 and petroleum sales rose 22 per cent in the four months of FY22. Additionally, continuous rupee strengthening added fuel to the index during the session,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index gained 0.29 per cent, or 138.14 points, to close at 47,112.92 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.48 per cent, or 88.28 points, to close at 18,343.15 points.
As many as 361 scrips were active, of which 174 advanced, 171 declined and 16 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 306.24 million shares, compared with the turnover of 430.08 million shares in the last trading session.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market opened on a positive note due to strengthening rupee and downturn of the commodities price cycle.
“Institutional investors buying was witnessed in the cyclicals (cement and steel) sectors. Later, mixed sentiment was witnessed in the market, as investors opted for profit-booking, especially in the cement sector in expectation of the interest rate hike by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the upcoming monetary policy.”
Going forward, analysts expect the market to reach positive ahead of the Pakistan-IMF review and improving economic figures.
The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Allawasaya Textile, up Rs149.9 to close at Rs2,449.9/share; and Nestle Pakistan, up Rs100 to close at Rs6,000/share.
The companies that reflected the most losses included Unilever Foods, down Rs500 to close at Rs20,500/share; and Rafhan Maize, down Rs200 to close at Rs9,700/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in Byco Petroleum with a turnover of 19.26 million shares. The scrip gained three paisas to close at Rs7.5/share; followed by Telecard Limited with a turnover of 14.4 million shares. It shed one paisa to close at Rs17.11/share. First National Equities remained the third with a turnover of 10.8 million shares. It gained 21 paisas to finish at Rs8.8.
