Stocks gained on Tuesday, boosted by energy shares and further signs the IMF may soon agree on resumption of bailout programme, dealers said.
Equities carried forward recent buying momentum today led by Oil & Gas Exploration, Marketing & Power sector stocks," brokerage Topline Securities said in a post market note. "The benchmark index opened in a green zone, stayed positive throughout the day and eventually settled 332 points positive."
The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index gained 0.81 percent to close at 41,522.76 points. The highest index of the day remained at 41,767.67 points while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 41,190.77 points.
Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said another bull run was recorded at the PSX . “The benchmark index opened in the green and continued to trade with cheerful sentiments throughout the trading session, reaching an intraday high of 573.18 points in expectation of approval for the release of the 9th tranche of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility during the ongoing negotiation."
Investors’ participation remained adequate in the E&P sector in the wake of the resolution of gas circular debt, while healthy volumes were observed across the board.
KSE-30 index also increased 168.92 points or 1.09 percent to close at 15,662.94 points.
Traded shares rose by 120 million shares to 296.595 million shares from 176.726 million shares. The trading value increased to Rs12.519 billion from Rs8.794 billion. Market capital expanded to Rs6.508 trillion from Rs6.457 trillion. Out of 357 companies active in the session, 185 closed in green, 144 in red and 28 remained unchanged.
During the day, SYS, OGDC, TRG, MEBL & MARI added 321 points, cumulatively. On the flip side, ENGRO, POL and PSO saw some profit-taking as they lost 61 points collectively.
The highest increase was recorded in shares of Nestle Pakistan, which rose by Rs39 to Rs5,338.99 per share, followed by Premium Tex., which increased by Rs27.76 to Rs550 per share.
A significant decline was noted in shares of Unilever Foods, which fell by Rs1,146.07 to Rs22,500 per share, followed by Rafhan Maize, which decreased by Rs299 to Rs8,000 per share.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Ltd said stocks closed higher on rupee recovery and speculations over the completion of the IMF review to end up with a reduction in fiscal deficit, and circular debt.
“Government approval over power tariff hike, further taxes for the IMF deal and likely strong corporate payouts in the oil sector to settle circular debt crises played a catalytic role in the bullish activity.”
Sectors contributing to the performance included technology & communication (+166.6 points), E&P’s (+131.9 points), commercial banks (+69.0 points), pharmaceuticals (+15.9 points), and power generation & distribution (+10.9 points).
WorldCall Telecom remained the volume leader with 44.714 million shares which increased by 7 paisas to Rs1.23 per share. It was followed by Pak Petroleum with 31.774 million shares that closed higher by 97 paisas to Rs81.12 per share.
Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Sui South Gas, Oil & Gas Dev., Sui North Gas, TRG Pak Ltd, Pak Refinery, Faysal Bank, Hub Power Co., and Telecard Limited.
Shares’ turnover in the future contracts increased to 77.204 million shares from 47.995 million shares.