PSX Closing Bell: Superlative

April 03, 2024 (MLN): Bulls roared strong over the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in today's session, deriving its benchmark index to surge past its previous all-time high and set a new peak.

Resultantly, the KSE-100 index closed at 67,756.04 showing an increase of 869.77 points or 1.3%.

The index remained positive throughout the day, showing an intraday high of 67,873.22 (+986.95) and a low of 66,985.02 (98.75) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 index was 140.991 million shares.

The extensive bullish rally, which began last year after the country avoided default with the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), continues to gain momentum.

The better-than-expected conclusion of general elections, anticipation of interest rate cuts, and fresh inflows from the IMF are further contributing to gains.

Additionally, the recent government’s efforts to restructure and privatize Pakistan International Airlines Corp (PSX: PIAA) have also directed the attention of market participants.

Of the 100 index companies 68 closed up, 23 closed down, 4 were unchanged, while 5 remained untraded.

KSE-100 index was supported by Cement with 289.5, Fertilizer with 255.75, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 131.11, Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos. / Securities Cos. with 63.6, and Engineering with 39.04 points.

On the contrary, the index was let down by Synthetic & Rayon with 13.43, Textile Composite with 1.62, Power Generation & Distribution with 1.57, Miscellaneous with 1.06, and Vanaspati & Allied Industries with 0.25 points.

Companies adding points to the index were ENGRO with 146.04, EFERT with 106.21, LUCK with 99.93, PPL with 73.72, and OGDC with 61.74 points.

Meanwhile, companies that dragged the index lower were MEBL with 45.09, IBFL with 13.43, MCB with 9.44, HUBC with 6.37 and SCBPL with 4.71 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 44,591.51 with a net gain of 288.65 points.

Total market volume was 361.823 million shares compared to 239.650 from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs11.90 billion showing an increase of Rs2.95bn.

There were 163,089 trades reported in 339 companies with 207 closing up, 108 closing down and 24 remaining unchanged.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 26,303 points or 63.45% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 5,305 points, equivalent to 8.49%.

Copyright Mettis Link News