KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks exchange returned to the positive zone on Tuesday after witnessing a range-bound session owing to concerns regarding the economy of the country, analysts said.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said that the bourse moved both ways with low volumes and closed in the green zone.

“However, a lack of interest and selling pressure was witnessed in the market due to macroeconomic indicators continuing to deteriorate with fast-depleting foreign exchange reserves of the country,” he added.

Besides, the investors are waiting for a clear political roadmap to participate in the country’s economy, he remarked.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 173.75 points, or 0.42 per cent, to close at 41,714.30 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 77.22 points, or 0.50 per cent, to close at 15,430.69 points.

As many as 321 scrips were active of which 122 advanced, 170 declined and 29 remained unchanged.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed another range-bound session, where the KSE-100 Index opened in the red zone but soon the momentum changed as the market traded in the green zone throughout the day after political clarity.

“Although the investors’ participation remained sluggish in the main board, the third-tier stocks continued to dominate the volume board,” he added.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to remain under pressure due to political discord and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pending tranche. Hence, suggesting investors adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the upcoming sessions.

The ready market volumes stood at 144.84 million shares, compared with the turnover of 133.55 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Pak Services up Rs84.53 to close at Rs1,211.93/share, and Sapphire Fiber up Rs78.75 to close at Rs1,128.75/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Bata (Pak) down Rs49.92 to close at Rs1,650.08/share, and Premier Sugar down Rs19.17 to close at Rs560/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Pakistan Telecommunication Company with a turnover of 15.37 million shares. The scrip gained 10 paisas to close at Rs6.60/share, followed by Dewan Motors with a turnover of 9.58 million shares. It gained Rs1.02 to close at Rs17.70/share. WorldCall Telecom remained the third with a turnover of 8.63 million shares. It shed one paisa to close at Rs1.34/share.

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