Pakistan bourse closes in green on late recovery

KARACHI: The Pakistan equity market remained volatile on Wednesday due to political unrest and higher commodity prices, while managing to close in green on value hunting during the last hour of trading, dealers said.

“The military conflict between Russia and Ukraine has taken over the global and local markets, as the international commodity prices are experiencing high volatility,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.

“On the local front political uncertainty is rising as opposition garners the support of coalition partners to oust the Prime Minister in a no-confidence motion,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.27 per cent, or 120.74 points, to close at 45,132.92 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 0.41 per cent, or 70.99 points, to close at 17,584.11points.

As many as 348 scrips were active of which 178 advanced, 153 declined and 17 remained unchanged.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to remain under pressure, therefore suggesting investors adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy.

The ready market volumes stood at 186.35 million shares, compared with the turnover of 227.17 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Rafhan Maize up Rs101 to close at Rs10,300.00/share, and Pak Tobacco up Rs37.99 to close at Rs1,046/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Nestle Pakistan down Rs144.90, to close at Rs5,600/share, and Colgate Palm down Rs50 to close at Rs2,350/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Bank of Punjab with a turnover of 13.62 million shares. The scrip shed 15 paisas to close at Rs7.80/share, followed by Telecard Limited with a turnover of 12.29 million shares. It gained 59 paisas to close at Rs15.34/share. WorldCall Telecom remained the third with a turnover of 11.55 million shares. The scrip gainded 2 paisas to finish at Rs1.82/share.