Equity market closes in green on upbeat economic data

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stocks on Monday showed recovery on upbeat data for shrinking current account deficit in February 2022, surging global equities and rising global crude oil prices.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the Index stayed in the green zone as the current account deficit (CAD) shrank 78 per cent in February.

“The federal and provincial government of Balochistan have signed a new agreement with Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada for extraction of gold and copper reserves from Reko Diq with an investment of $10 billion,” he added.

“On the flip-side, activity in the market continued to remain side-ways as the market witnessed hefty volumes in the third tier stocks.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.47 per cent, or 200.25 points, to close at 43,230.22 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 0.37 per cent, or 60.14 points, to close at 16,494.20 points.

Going forward, the analysts expect the range bound activity to continue in the coming sessions due to concerns over the economic outlook and geopolitical situation thus, recommending investors to keep a buy on dips strategy in banking, exploration and production (E&P) and cement sectors.

As many as 317 scrips were active of which 165 advanced, 126 declined and 26 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 124.94 million shares, compared with the turnover of 180.43 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Unilever Foods up Rs1,374.47 to close at Rs23,249.50/share, and Wyeth Pak Ltd (XD) up Rs93.07 to close at Rs2,095.95/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Sapphire Tex down Rs37.50 to close at Rs947.50/share, and Murree Brewery down Rs15.35 to close at Rs423.65/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Summit Bank with a turnover of 16.07 million shares. The scrip gained 53 paisas to close at Rs2.86/share, followed by Hum Network with a turnover of 8.92 million shares. It gained 24 paisas to close at Rs6.53/share. WorldCall Telecom remained the third with a turnover of 7.97 million shares. It shed 3 paisas to finish at Rs1.47/share.