PSX Closing Bell: Walking on a Dream

August 01, 2023 (MLN); During the initial hour of the trading session, the KSE-100 displayed an upward trend, before experiencing a sharp selloff. Despite this volatility, it managed to stay in positive territory throughout the session, ultimately closing the day at 48,230.51 points, marking a jump of 195.91pts or 0.41% DoD.

The index traded in a range of 443.58 points showing an intraday high of 48,441.84 and a low of 47,998.26.

Total Volume of the KSE100 Index was 274.242 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 67 closed up, 24 closed down, 5 were unchanged while 4 remained untraded.

KSE100 index was supported by Fertilizer with 59.71, Cement with 46.79, Technology & Communication with 30.49, Textile Composite with 28.02 and Food & Personal Care Products with 25.32 points.

Companies adding points to the index were ENGRO with 36.81, MARI with 23.9, UBL with 20.9, ILP with 19.81 and PAKT with 17.69 points.

KSE100 Index was let down by Chemical with 47.82, Power Generation & Distribution with 30.83, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 26.9, Automobile Parts & Accessories with 4.44 and Paper & Board with 1.06 points.

Companies dragging the index lower were COLG with 54.46, HUBC with 31.35, PPL with 26.25, PSO with 15.35 and HBL with 11.38 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 32,148.79 with a net gain of 121.51 points.

Total market volume was 556.931 million shares compared to 491.875 from the previous session while traded value being recorded at 15.95 billion showing a decrease of Rs.1.94 billion.

There was 205,039 trades reported in 353 companies with 222 closing up, 104 closing down and 27 remaining unchanged.

To note, the benchmark KSE-100 index posted the highest ever monthly gain in points in the month of July, gaining a staggering 6,582pts or 15.9%.

The average traded volume of the KSE-100 Index during the month was 186.38 million shares, up by 2.35x MoM.

With respect to the economy, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July came in hotter than expected, at 28.3% YoY, while it jumped by 3.5% MoM as compared to a decrease of 0.3% in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)'s decision to keep rates unchanged provided more fuel to the rally, with investors wagering that this would mark the end of the hawkish cycle.

On the earnings front, Colgate Palmolive (Pakistan) Limited (PSX: COLG) posted a significant rise of 77.29% YoY in its profits for FY23, worth Rs10.41bn [EPS: Rs99.48], and announced a final cash dividend of Rs5 per share i.e. 50 %.

KSE-100 Weekly time-frame chart

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