PSX Closing Bell: Bear Down

May 24, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan stocks extended their historic bullish rally on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index jumping 868.56 points or 1.16% to settle at a record high of 75,983.04.

The positivity comes amid developments on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) front.

Pakistani authorities achieved significant progress toward reaching a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the IMF on new program, the lender said in a statement.

Moreover, the UAE president on Thursday pledged to allocate $10 billion for investment in promising economic sectors in Pakistan.

The index remained positive throughout the day, showing an intraday high of 76,248.76 (+1134.28) and a low of 75,263.06 (+148.59) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 index was 310.42 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 64 closed up, 30 closed down, 5 were unchanged, while 1 remained untraded.

KSE-100 index was supported by Commercial Banks (379.69pts), Fertilizer (118.46pts), Power Generation & Distribution (103.78pts), Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (82.64pts), and Cement (50.13pts).

On the flip-side, the index was let down by Insurance (10.96pts), Food & Personal Care Products (6.28pts), Pharmaceuticals (3.4pts), Paper & Board (0.63pts), and Transport (0.51pts).

Companies adding points to the index were UBL (119.22pts), HUBC (84.84pts), MEBL (78.67pts), MCB (68.78pts), and EFERT (59.86pts).

Meanwhile, companies that dragged the index lower were TRG (9.6pts), CHCC (9.57pts), EFUG (9.01pts), OGDC (8.21pts), and NPL (8.01pts).

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 49,204.60 with a net gain of 488.05 points.

Total market volume was 609.85 million shares compared to 758.94m from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs23.58 billion showing an increase of Rs6.87bn.

There were 223,732 trades reported in 382 companies with 215 closing up, 144 closing down and 23 remaining unchanged.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 34,530 points or 83.3% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 13,532 points, equivalent to 21.67%.

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