KARACHI: The Pakistan equity market closed higher on Thursday as investors weigh the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) disbursement of $1.16 billion to provide the much needed support to the rupee.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that mid-session pressure remained over reports of 27.3 per cent CPI inflation in August, expectations for subdued growth in fiscal year 2023 on flood losses and a slump in the global equities.

“However, the robust data of Rs489 million tax collection for August, and the UN’s pledge of $160 million to support flash flood losses played a catalyst role in the higher close,” he added.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the equities acknowledged the arrival of the funds from the IMF on a welcome note.

“Initially, the KSE-100 Index commenced the day on a positive note. It stayed in the green zone throughout the day and eventually settled at 42,460 points for the day,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.26 per cent, or 108.93 points, to close at 42,460.08 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 0.08 per cent, or 13.08 points, to close at 16,016.49 points.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed a positive session as Pakistan received the tranche of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.

“The investors’ participation remained active throughout the day as healthy volumes were observed in the main board while the cement sector remained in the limelight,” he added.

As many as 345 scrips were active of which 185 advanced, 132 declined and 28 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 248.19 million shares, compared with the turnover of 181.26 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Sapphire Textile up Rs84.51 to close at Rs1,244.50/share, and Premium Textile up Rs39.50 to close at Rs699.50/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Bhanero Textile down Rs102.77 to close at Rs1,267.85/share, and Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan down Rs100.50 to close at Rs1,239.50/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Cnergyico PK with a turnover of 35.62 million shares. The scrip shed 4 paisas to close at Rs5.32/share, followed by Maple Leaf with a turnover of 23.49 million shares. It gained 27 paisas to close at Rs28.89/share. Fauji Cement remained the third with a turnover of 13.81 million shares. It gained 44 paisas to finish at Rs15.46/share.

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