Pakistan bourse closes in green over policy statement

KARACHI: The Pakistan equity market moved both ways on Wednesday managing to close in a green territory as the global oil prices came below the level of $125/barrel followed by the unchanged Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) announcement.

“However, the ongoing geopolitical tensions coupled with the uncertainty in local politics amid submission of no-trust motion against the government kept the inventors’ sentiment down,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.38 per cent, or 164.61 points, to close at 43,042.96 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 0.47 per cent, or 78.86 points, to close at 16,747.77 points.

As many as 341 scrips were active of which 148 advanced, 167 declined and 26 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 183.70 million shares, compared with the turnover of 226.10 million shares in the last trading session.

“The market stayed in the green zone today as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the policy rate unchanged at 9.75 per cent, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited said.

“The SBP held its benchmark interest rate steady for the second meeting in a row as inflationary concerns cooled a bit, but it did hint at the possibility of an early huddle in case any economic fallout of Russia-Ukraine spills over in the country,” he added.

Going forward, the analysts believe that the outcome of the no-confidence motion will take some time and recommend investors to keep booking profits at a higher level.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Wyeth Pak Ltd up Rs83.99 to close at Rs2,084/share, and Sapphire Tex up Rs67.30 to close at Rs1,029.80/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Rafhan Maize down Rs138 to close at Rs11,861/share, and Philip Morris Pak down Rs44.38 to close at Rs675/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Ghani Glo Hol with a turnover of 12.79 million shares. The scrip shed 34 paisas to close at Rs15.49/share, followed by Pak Int Bulk with a turnover of 12.53 million shares. It shed 25 paisas to close at Rs6.17/share. TPL Properties remained the third with a turnover of 11.13 million shares. It shed Rs1.90 to finish at Rs23.48/share.