PSX Closing Bell: Well Runs Dry

January 12, 2024 (MLN): The Pakistan stock market opened on a bullish note following the International Monetary Fund’s approval of the second loan tranche worth $700 million.

However, investors opted to lock in profits in the second half of the session, stripping off all the earlier gains.

By the session’s end, the benchmark KSE-100 index settled flat at 64,637.64, with a marginal gain of 20.07 points or 0.03% DoD.

The index traded in a range of 865.77 points showing an intraday high of 65,356.85 (+739.28) and a low of 64,491.08 (-126.49) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 index was 402.906 million shares.

The IMF's aid will likely provide enough financing to cover external financing gaps until FY24, with a notable $1 billion dollar-denominated debt due in April.

Accordingly, the nation would need another loan from the IMF to support the economy, as Caretaker Federal Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar has also stressed.

While, in a positive development, the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) recorded its ninth weekly win against the US Dollar amid increased liquidity in the foreign exchange market, a shrinking money supply, a balance of payments surplus, and a moratorium on Chinese debt repayments.

In today's session, advancers to decliners remained equally distributed, with 41 companies closing up and 52 closing down.

Meanwhile 2 were unchanged and 5 remained untraded.

KSE-100 index was supported by Commercial Banks with 84.71, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 84.14, Fertilizer with 12.85, Transport with 10.26, and Synthetic & Rayon with 8.5 points.

On the contrary, the index was let down by Power Generation & Distribution with 34.56, Cement with 34.09, Technology & Communication with 25.49, Chemical with 19.51, and Leather & Tanneries with 16.26 points.

Companies adding points to the index were MARI with 52.62, EFERT with 32.7, PPL with 23.56, MEBL with 22.74, and BAHL with 19.33 points.

Meanwhile, companies that dragged the index lower were HUBC with 33.13, TRG with 17.06, SRVI with 16.26, LOTCHEM with 14.02 and FFC with 13.62 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 43,740.13 with a net gain of 29.45 points.

Total market volume was 643.308 million shares compared to 586.549 from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs20.02 billion showing an increase of Rs3bn.

There were 211,667 trades reported in 363 companies with 135 closing up, 216 closing down and 12 remaining unchanged.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 23,185 points or 55.93% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 2,187 points, equivalent to 3.5%.

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