KARACHI: Pakistan equity market closed in the green zone on Friday, as the market welcomed central bank’s liquidity injection via the open market operation (OMO) at the rate of 9.9 per cent, a signal of stability, dealers said.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market stayed volatile in the first hour of opening due to declining foreign exchange reserves and FTSE rebalancing, expectation of foreign selling spree.
“Soon after OMO injection, news clocked-in, bullish trend was observed mainly in the cement and steel sectors. [The] main board activity remained gloomy. On the flip-side, the activity continued to remain sideways, as the market witnessed hefty volumes in the third-tier stocks.”
The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.39 per cent, or 169.48 points, to close at 43,900.68 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.49 per cent, or 83.86 points, to close at 17,298.14 points.
As many as 327 scrips were active, of which 180 advanced, 132 declined and 15 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 252.2 million shares, compared with the turnover of 312.07 million shares in the last trading session.
Moving forward, the economic numbers like the Consumer Price Index (CPI), current account deficit and the forex reserves along with the timing of the International Monetary fund (IMF) programme’s resumption will play a vital role in shaping the direction of the market.
The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Bata Pakistan, up Rs142.65 to close at Rs2,044.65/share; and Mehmood Tex, up Rs49.5 to close at Rs710/share.
The companies that reflected the most losses included Colgate Palmolive, down Rs139.74 to close at Rs2,460.25/share; and Allawasaya Textile, down Rs67.38 to close at Rs2,382.63/share.
The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 29.21 million shares. The scrip shed six paisas to close at Rs2.15/share; followed by Hum Network with a turnover of 25.96 million shares. It gained 32 paisas to close at Rs6.33/share. Telecard Limited remained the third with a turnover of 17.47 million shares. It shed 10 paisas to finish at Rs15.65/share.
