KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange staged a broad-based recovery on Wednesday as the KSE-100 index surged 1,878.35 points, or 1.06 per cent, to close at 179,571.27, against the previous close of 177,692.92, as buying interest returned across multiple sectors. The market recovered strongly amid further improvement in the geopolitical situation and a decline in oil prices.
The index touched an intraday high of 179,919.27 and a low of 177,931.32. The KSE-30 index gained 525.53 points to close at 53,548.42.Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd Ali Najib said that PSX witnessed a strong session. Broad-based buying emerged across the market as investors positioned for further positive developments on the geopolitical front, expectations of another cut in domestic petroleum prices and growing hopes of monetary easing.
Sentiment was further supported by the decline in T-bill yields at Tuesday’s auction, signalling the possibility of an interest rate cut at the upcoming SBP Monetary Policy on July 27 amid falling global oil prices and a softening inflation outlook.
“Going forward, with oil prices continuing to trend lower and rate-cut expectations gaining traction, investor sentiment is likely to remain positive. However, sustainability of the rally will depend on upcoming inflation data, SBP policy signals, and further improvement in geopolitical developments”, he said.
Ready market turnover rose 11.26 per cent to 851.30 million shares from 765.14 million shares in the previous session. Traded value climbed 13.93 per cent to Rs40.38 billion from Rs35.44 billion, while market capitalisation advanced 1.00 per cent to Rs20.13 trillion from Rs19.94 trillion.
Market breadth was positive, with 289 stocks advancing against 167 declining and 33 unchanged.Among the top gainers, Service Industries Limited rose Rs126.68 to close at Rs2,357.15, while Khairpur Sugar Mills Limited added Rs88.31 to close at Rs2,385.67. On the downside, Pakistan Engineering Company Limited shed Rs27.94 to close at Rs917.81, and Colgate-Palmolive (Pakistan) Limited declined Rs20.53 to close at Rs1,259.53.
According to Topline Sales Desk, a positive session was observed at the local bourse. This positivity can be attributed to the decline in crude oil prices.The top positive contributors to the index were UBL, LUCK, SRVI, PPL, FFC and MCB, cumulatively contributing 920 points.
Traded value-wise MLCF (Rs2.9bn), PAEL (Rs1.39bn), PIBTL (Rs1.37bn), NBP (Rs1.35bn), DGKC (Rs1.33bn) and OGDC (Rs1.28bn) dominated the trading activity.K-Electric led the ready market turnover with 112.89 million shares, rising 33 paisas to close at Rs8.75, followed by Pak Int. Bulk with 73.30 million shares, rising 94 paisas to close at Rs18.64. Other most-traded stocks were WorldCall Telecom, Pak Elektron, Maple Leaf, PIA Holding Company, Kohinoor Spinning, Sui South Gas, The Organic Meat and B O Punjab.In the futures market, 308 contracts were traded, with 195 increasing in value, 107 declining and 6 unchanged.
