Stocks closed higher for the third consecutive day on Thursday as investors anticipate the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme after the implementation of some tough decisions by the government, traders said.
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index jumped up 2.67 percent or by 1,061.63 points to stand at 40,846.53 points against 39,784.90 points recorded in the last session. Intraday high was 40,992.48 points, while intraday low was 39,784.90 points.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks showed a strong recovery in the earnings season on institutional interest in scrips across the board after government decision to make tough decisions to seek IMF programme revival amid interbank rupee adjustment to FX market rate that is likely to raise exports and remittances.”
He said investor speculations over likely help from the US to ease IMF terms, and receipts from UAE and Saudi for financial support played a catalytic role in the bullish activity.
KSE-30 index also increased by 411.38 points or 2.78 percent to close at 15,211.60 points compared with 14,800.22 points recorded in the last session.
Volumes increased by 95 million shares to 364.131 million shares from 269.493 million shares, whereas value increased to Rs14.480 billion from Rs10.574 billion. Market capital expanded to Rs6.414 trillion from Rs6.297 trillion. Out of 356 companies active in the session, 257 closed in green, 77 in red and 22 remained unchanged.
Analyst Muhammad Arbash of Topline Securities, said equities skyrocketed as the benchmark soared. “Investors cheered government efforts of reviving the IMF programme, where new taxation measures of nearly Rs300 billion are on cards,” he said. “Further Pak rupee (PKR) in the interbank and open market rate has started falling from today, which led the market to make an intraday high of 1,209 points.”
Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Engro, Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), Meezan Bank and UBL were the major gainers in the trading session, cumulatively adding 409 points to the index.
The highest increase was recorded in the shares of Pak Services, up Rs158.50 to close at Rs2,276/share, followed by Bata (Pak), up Rs115.75 to close at Rs1,711.76/share. A significant decline was noted in the shares of Sapphire Fiber, down Rs92.57 to end at Rs1,147/share, followed by Bhanero Tex., down Rs89.99 to end at Rs1,110/share.
Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said the market resumed the trading session on a positive note and processed to make an intraday high of 1,209.79 points after the government took positive measures to get in line with the IMF prerequisites before the resumption of talks for the revival of the IMF programme.
“The major confidence booster for the investors today proved to be the free float of exchange rate determined by the market as volumes soared up across the board,” it reported.
Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (+353.9 points), fertiliser (+230.1 points), cement (+100.4 points), miscellaneous (+81.4 points), and power (+46.7 points).
Cnergyico remained the volume leader with 44.728 million shares. It scrip went up by 26 paisas to stand at Rs4.02/share. It was followed by TPL Properties with 20.045 million shares that closed higher by 40 paisas to Rs16.39/share.
Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included WorldCall Telecom, DG Khan Cement, Maple Leaf, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines, Pak Refinery, TRG Pak, FFC and HBL.
Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 199.234 million shares from 211.223 million shares.