RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: After negative opening, Pakistan Stock Exchange Friday turned bullish and closed on strong positive note as investors became optimistic about IMF’s Executive Board meeting on January 12 and

took fresh positions in various sectors.

The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 263.35 points or 0.58 percent and closed at 45,345.65 points. Trading activities however remained low as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 242.263 million shares as compared to 345.295 million shares traded Thursday.

BRIndex100 gained 31.9 points or 0.69 percent to close at 4,661.82 points with total daily turnover of 198.942 million shares.

BRIndex30 lost 156.06 points or 0.8 percent to close at 19,270.26 points with total daily trading volumes of 148.636 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $30,321. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 44 billion to Rs 7.772 trillion. Out of total 354 active scrips, 208 closed in positive and 124 in negative while the value of 22 stocks remained unchanged.

Telecard Limited was the volume leader with 26.149 million shares and increased by Rs 1.17 to close at Rs 18.43 followed by WorldCall Telecom that gained Rs 0.02 to close at Rs 2.28 with 21.662. TRG Pak plunged by Rs 8.57 to close at its lower circuit on second consecutive day at Rs 105.76 with 18.994 million shares.

Rafhan Maize and Bata Pak were the top gainers increasing by Rs 599.00 and Rs 153.70 respectively to close at Rs 9900.00 and Rs 2203.70 while Colgate Palmolive and Ismail Industries were the top losers declining by Rs 158.00 and Rs 33.70 respectively to close at Rs 2282.00 and Rs 416.30.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the KSE-100 Index closed in the green zone as investors became optimistic about IMF’s Executive Board meeting on January 12. Profit taking was witnessed in the first trading hour as corona virus positivity ratio exceeded 2.0 percent in a single day for the first time since October 14 last year.

Fertilizer sector remained in the limelight due to expectation of price hike of urea in the market. Cement sector remained under pressure due to the uptick in international coal prices. Activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (up 108 points), Fertilizer (up 98 points), Power (up 46 points), E&P (up 36 points) and Engineering (up 11 points).

BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 28.38 points or 0.33 percent to close at 8,576.75 points with total turnover of 1.416 million shares.

BR Cement Index lost 4.04 points or 0.07 percent to close at 5,805.96 points with 5.930 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 112.89 points or 1.15 percent to close at 9,902.04 points with 24.783 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index surged by 105.47 points or 1.82 percent to close at 5,910.43 points with 8.855 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 21.38 points or 0.56 percent to close at 3,861.96 points with 4.431 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 4,191.43 points, down 26.51 points or 0.63 percent with 82.981 million shares.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 index opened on a negative note as the index declined to make an intraday low of 113 points, led by TRG as it closed on its lower circuit for second consecutive day on news that Zia Chisti has presented himself for upcoming director`s election, despite the on-going investigation of harassment against him.

However, market gained momentum in second half of trading session, as the index increased by 263 points to close at 45,346 level, up by 0.6 percent.

Major contribution to the index came from HUBC, SYS, EFERT, FFC and UBL, as they cumulatively contributed 179 points to the index.