Equities moved slightly up in range bound trade on Tuesday following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting with US President Trump, which gave investors some hope that improved Pakistan-US relations might enhance trade balance in favour of Pakistan, dealers said.
An analyst from Topline Securities said investor sentiment improved as the PM concluded a successful meeting with US President Trump, who hinted that US aid to Pakistan could be restored. The US president also mentioned increasing trade activity with Pakistan, which could lead to improved trade balance in the near future.
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index gained 0.40 percent or 131.33 points to close at 32,715.88 points level. KSE-30 shares index followed suit with a high of 0.56 percent or 86.85 points to end at 15,564.28 points level.
Of 318 active scrips, 178 moved up, 110 retreated, and 30 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 97.118 million shares, as compared with the turnover of 44.702 million shares in the previous session.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporations said, “Stocks closed bullish amid higher trades led by selected scrips across the board on institutional speculation in the earnings season.”
US affirmations on investment, trade during Pakistan-US officials’ meeting, foreign inflows, improving current account, higher remittances in FY19, and surge in global equities played a catalytic role in the bullish close, he added.
A leading trader said the market mostly remained on the losing side because of the poor financial results announced by some companies.
The results were below expectations, mainly reflecting the country’s economy and low consumer spending for the products.
The stock market opened on a positive note and made a high of 32,758 points; however selling pressure from banks and other financial institutions subdued the tone and the index touched session low of 32,455 points. Before closing some bargain hunters placed fresh positions in choice scrips, which helped the KSE-100 finish with some gains.
A leading trader said the recent interview of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative in Pakistan sent a cautious note to seasoned investors. She said the government has to adopt tough measures to improve tax collection, which many investors see as a bigger task for the current government.
A few also raised questions about the tough measures, as following the IMF suggested measures would for sure slow down the growth of the economy, thus improvement in revenue collection would become a bigger challenge, which might put more pressure on fiscal numbers, a trader said.
The highest gainers were Murree Brewery, up Rs24.88 to close at Rs749.99/share, and Indus Motor Company, up Rs12.31 to finish at Rs1,093.91/share.
Companies that booked highest losses were Nestle Pakistan, down Rs322.31 to close at Rs6,137.69/share, and Pakistan Suzuki, down Rs10.06 to close at Rs191.32/share.
Maple Leaf recorded the highest volumes with a turnover of 13.217 billion shares. The scrip lost Rs0.91 to close at Rs20.12/share.
The lowest volumes were witnessed in International Steels Limited, recording a turnover of 2.131 million shares, whereas the scrip gained Rs1.44 to end at Rs30.28/share.