KARACHI: The KSE-100 index posted a strong gain on Thursday, rising 1,189.52 points, or 0.69 per cent, to close at 172,894.28 against the previous close of 171,704.76.
The index touched an intraday high of 173,274.54 and a low of 171,541.04 during the session. Investor sentiment improved on declining oil prices in the international market. The KSE-30 index gained 385.76 points, or 0.75 per cent, to finish at 52,120.11.
Muhammad Hasan Ather, an analyst at JS Global, said the KSE-100 Index extended its bullish momentum. Market sentiment remained positive, largely driven by the decline in international oil prices, which boosted optimism across global equities. However, geopolitical concerns continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
“Going forward, the market is expected to maintain a range-bound trajectory until greater clarity emerges on the geopolitical front,” he said. Ready market volumes fell to 986.97 million shares from 1.2 billion in the preceding session, a decline of 17.9 per cent. Traded value dropped 16.3 per cent to Rs52.71 billion from Rs63 billion. Market capitalisation rose 0.83 per cent to Rs19.05 trillion from Rs18.89 trillion.
Market breadth was positive, with 290 stocks advancing, 165 declining and 35 finishing unchanged out of 490 traded.PIA Holding Company Limited led gainers, rising Rs516.33 to close at Rs17,517.33, while Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited added Rs184.16 to finish at Rs26,450.83. Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited was the top decliner, shedding Rs26.47 to close at Rs9,472.48, followed by Khyber Textile Mills Limited, which fell Rs24.48 to Rs1,575.24.
Naveed Nadeem, senior equity trader at Topline Securities Limited, said the local bourse opened on a positive note, carrying forward the bullish momentum from the previous session as the benchmark index climbed to an intraday high of 1,569 points. However, profit-taking during the mid-session triggered volatility, trimming a significant portion of the early gains and dragging the index to an intraday low of 163 points.
Despite the volatile trading pattern, the market displayed notable resilience and settled firmly in positive territory.Index-heavy stocks, including UBL, FFC, LUCK, OGDC and MARI, remained the key drivers of the rally, collectively contributing 735 points to the benchmark index.
Bank of Punjab topped the turnover table with 86.33 million shares, gaining 19 paisas to close at Rs36.73. F. Nat. Equities followed with 65.97 million shares, adding 3 paisas to Rs1.47. The remaining most-traded counters were Hascol Petroleum, Maple Leaf Cement, K-Electric, Agha Steel Industries, Beco Steel, WorldCall Telecom, Sui Southern Gas and Unity Foods.In the futures market, 336 contracts were traded, with 263 increasing, 68 decreasing and 5 unchanged.
