Pakistan stocks close in green territory as KSE-100 Index gains 542 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks successfully managed to close in the green territory on Monday, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to reschedule the sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) on the request of the Finance Division.

“Moreover, the local players’ liquidity increased due to the inflows from foreign firms. Additionally, the higher interest rate environment triggered investors’ interest in the banking sector, which added 212 points to the index,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 1.2 per cent, or 541.98 points, to close at 45,887.63 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 1 per cent, or 179.26 points, to close at 18,077.65 points.

As many as 383 scrips were active, of which 243 advanced, 112 declined and 28 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 356.9 million shares, compared with the turnover of 242.26 million shares in the last trading session.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed bullish led by scrips across-the-board on speculations ahead of the financial results due this week.

“Higher global crude oil prices, robust housing finance data surging 85 per cent in FY21 and the IMF approval for [the] deferment of EFF review played a catalytic role in the bullish close.”

Neelam Naz at Hub Power Company (Hubco) announced its board meeting to consider entitlement of dividend for the shareholders, which kept the stock in the limelight.

“Going forward, [the] market may undergo a short-term correction and a buy on dips strategy is advised in the technology, fertiliser, banking and cyclical sector stocks.”

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Colgate Palmolive, up Rs168 to close at Rs2,450/share; and Unilever Foods, up Rs150 to close at Rs19,500/share.

The companies, which reflected the most losses included Sapphire Fibre, down Rs73.75 to close at Rs73.75/share; and Gatron Industries, down Rs42.44 to close at Rs523.56/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Unity Foods with a turnover of 33.2 million shares. The scrip gained 41 paisas to close at Rs2.43/share; followed by WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 30.07 million shares, as it gained four paisas to close at Rs2.32/share. TRG Pakistan remained the third with a turnover of 25.78 million shares. It gained Rs3.41 to finish at Rs109.17/share.