RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued upward journey for the second straight day and closed at a new all-time high level on Wednesday mainly by the positive news on various aspects of the upcoming budget. The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose by 1,348 points or 1.12 percent to close at record level of 121,799 points on Wednesday compared to 120,451 points on Tuesday. Market remained in green throughout the day and during the intraday trading, index hit a high level of 121,882.48 points and a low level of 120,896.13 points.
On Wednesday, the BRIndex100 closed at 13,085.41 points, gaining 154.15 points or 1.19 percent compared to the previous day. The total trading volume for the index was 573.635 million shares. Meanwhile, the BRIndex30 also rose by one percent, adding 377.36 points to finish at 38,093.23 points, with a total trading volume of 316.171 million shares.
Analysts at the Topline noted that the bullish momentum from the previous session carried forward, fuelled by robust buying from local and corporate institutions, as indicated by NCCPL data. This positive sentiment propelled the benchmark index to an impressive increase of 1,348 points, they added.
Trading activity remained robust on Wednesday, with a total of 710.59 million shares changing hands, higher than the 578.16 million shares traded on Tuesday. The total traded value also saw an increase, rising to Rs 35.22 billion from Rs 26.83 billion in the previous session.
The overall market capitalization expanded by Rs 156 billion, closing at Rs 14.75 trillion compared to Rs 14.59 trillion a day earlier. Out of 475 actively traded companies, 264 recorded gains, 170 posted losses, and 41 remained unchanged.
The key drivers of the rally included heavyweight stocks such as NBP, BAHL, SYS, LUCK, and MCB, which collectively contributed 586 points to the KSE-100 index’s upward trajectory.
Among the most actively traded companies on Wednesday, Sui Southern Gas led the market with 51.63 million shares changing hands, closing at Rs 38.42. It was followed by Fauji Foods Ltd, with a trading volume of 51.38 million shares, ending the day at Rs 16.75. K-Electric Ltd secured the third spot, with 41.40 million shares traded, closing at Rs 5.41.
On Wednesday, Supernet Technologies Limited recorded the highest gains increase by Rs 79.11 and closed at a high of Rs 870.21 followed by Pakistan Engineering Company Limited whose share price value closed at Rs 819.30, up by Rs 74.48. On Wednesday, PIA Holding Company Limited and Khyber Textile Mills Limited faced notable losses with share values decreased by Rs 3,554.32 and Rs 337.68 respectively to close at Rs 31,988.87 and Rs 3,039.08.
Meanwhile, BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 21,084.65 points with a net negative change of 121.61 points or 0.57 percent with the total turnover remaining 5.872 million shares. BR Cement Index gained 67.27 points or 0.66 percent to settle at 10,314.29 points with a total turnover of 41.42 million.
BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 36,471.66 points up by 776.68 points or 2.18 percent with a total turnover of 133.549 million shares. Meanwhile, BR Power Generation and Distribution Index ended at 21,163.66 points with a net positive change of 316.15 points or 1.52 percent with total turnover of 49.963 million shares.
BR Oil & Gas Index closed at 11,611.02 points with a net positive change of 121.84 points or 1.06 percent on 84.304 million shares turnover. While BR Technology & Communication Index finished at 2,968.64 points marking a positive change of 47.44 points or 1.62 percent, with total turnover of 49.919 million shares.
Ahsan Mehnati of Arif Habib Corporation said that the market rally was driven by investor optimism as they weighed government efforts to abolish further sales taxes, provide relief on provincial power tariffs, and positive signals from the Prime Minister regarding successful talks with the IMF on the upcoming budget.
“A 10 percent year-on-year increase in petroleum product sales during May, rising cement exports, and the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) approval of an $800 million financing package, aimed at supporting rupee stability, also acted as key catalysts behind the market’s record-breaking bullish close,” he added.
