KSE-100 sings blues, IMF review brings last minute recovery

February 15, 2023 (MLN): Domestic equities on Wednesday witnessed a volatile session due to the uncertainty surrounding the 'mini-budget,' which is necessary to proceed with the stalled IMF program.

The market's instability was further compounded by the recent downgrade of Pakistan's sovereign credit ratings by Fitch, as well as the expectation of political unrest following the rejection of bail for PTI's chairman.

However, value buying was observed during the last trading hour, which was attributed to the expectation of a successful conclusion of the IMF's ninth review by the upcoming weekend. As a result, the benchmark KSE100 index ended the trading session with a gain of 176.70 points or 0.43% gain to close at 41,326.86.

The Index traded in a range of 530.52 points or 1.29% of the previous close, showing an intraday high of 41,450.53 and a low of 40,920.01.

Of the 90 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 51 closed up while 39 closed down. The total volume traded for the index was 90.09 million shares.

Sectors propping up the index were Technology & Communication with 72 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 65 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 52 points, Cement with 33 points, and Automobile Assembler with 21 points.

The most points added to the index were by SYS which contributed 58 points followed by HUBC with 54 points, HBL with 44 points, OGDC with 31 points, and UBL with 24 points.

Sector-wise, the index was let down by Miscellaneous with 69 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 17 points, Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos. / Securities Cos. with 7 points, Tobacco with 7 points, and Paper & Board with 4 points.

The most points taken off the index was by PSEL which stripped the index of 69 points followed by BAHL with 42 points, MEBL with 24 points, AKBL, and UPFL with 13 points each.

All Share Volume decreased by 50.15mn to 137.38mn shares. Market Cap increased by Rs4.82bn.

The total companies traded were 321 compared to 316 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 149 closed up, 156 closed down and 16 remained unchanged.

Total trades decreased by 28,073 to 88,579.

Value traded decreased by 1.74bn to Rs6.12bn.

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