Stocks chalked up modest gains on Wednesday after the finance minister reinforced the government commitment to complete an IMF bailout programme, dealers said.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index gained 279.35 points or 0.67 percent to close at 41,819.29 points. The highest index of the day remained at 41,895.73 points while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 41,539.94 points.
The KSE-30 index also increased by 82.86 points or 0.54 percent to close at 15,448.12 points.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks showed recovery, led by selected scrips on reports over advanced stage Pakistan- IMF ninth review talks.
Finance minister's commitment over the completion of IMF program with timely external debt payment and speculation over positive outcome Pakistan-Russia oil deal tuned the market sentiment positive, Mehanti said
"Likely release of IMF $1.18 billion tranche and rupee stability played catalytic role in bullish close."
Traded shares increased by 90 million shares to 221.489 million shares from 131.698 million shares. The trading value rose to Rs5.863 billion from Rs3.899 billion. Market capital expanded to Rs6.658 trillion from Rs6.630 trillion. Out of 334 companies active in the session, 196 closed in green, 111 in red and 27 remained unchanged.
Analyst Muhammad Arbash at Topline Securities said equities closed positively where the benchmark index settled 0.67 percent up. “Investors cheered lower international oil prices and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar gave clarity that his team engaged with three major IMF shareholders for support in seeking a $7 billion economic bailout package and overruled rumours about any imminent financial emergency which led the market to make an intraday high of 360 points,” he said.
Major gainers were BAHL, PSEL, LUCK, TRG and SNGP which cumulatively added 162 points in KSE100 Index.
The highest increase was recorded in shares of Pak Services, which rose by Rs73.17 to Rs1,048.77 per share, followed by Sapphire Fiber, which increased by Rs72.60 to Rs1,044 per share. A significant decline was noted in shares of Rafhan Maize, which fell by Rs377.49 to Rs9,300.01 per share, followed by Bata (Pak), which decreased by Rs100 to Rs1,700 per share.
Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark index finally ended its losing streak, trading in the green all day. “Following a clarification by the finance division regarding the 9th review of the IMF Program, the market opened in the green and maintained its positive trend throughout the day,” the brokerage said in a post market report.
"Investors gained confidence as mainboard volumes gained momentum and participation remained healthy, with third-tier stocks leading in terms of volume."
Sectors contributing to the performance included cement (+54.1 points), commercial banks (+48.5 points), technology & communication (+48.4 points), miscellaneous (+37.3 points) and OMCs (+26.4 points).
Dewan Cement remained the volume leader with 29.559 million shares that increased by 50 paisas to Rs6.04 per share. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 21.472 million shares that closed lower by one paisa to Rs1.36 per share.
Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Kohinoor Spining, Sui South Gas, Hascol Petrol, TRG Pak Ltd, TPL Properties, Sui North Gas, Dewan Farooque Sp., and Cnergyico PK. Shares’ turnover in the future contracts increased to 44.506 million shares from 28.206 million shares.