Pakistan stocks remain bullish: KSE-100 gains 1,112 points

KARACHI: Bulls took charge with massive recovery across all sectors, as the KSE-100 index gained 1,112 points to close at 44,334 level after a consensus reportedly developed between PM Imran Khan and military leadership on the appointment of ISI director general, dealers said on Thursday.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin expressed the hope that the top-level negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be successful and the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) would be put back on track.

“Meanwhile, market sources suggest that [the] Prime Minister and [the] Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) agreed on the name to fulfill key position in the premium intelligence agency. As a result of consensus, the market remained upbeat throughout the day and most of the stocks ended in [the] green territory.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index gained 2.57 per cent, or 1,111.9 points, to close at 44,333.68 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 2.74 per cent, or 461.95 points, to close at 17,343.02 points.

As many as 557 scrips were active, of which 464 advanced, 79 declined and 14 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 388.59 million shares, compared with the turnover of 354.96 million shares in the last trading session.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks showed sharp recovery led by selected scrips across-the-board on bullish global equities, surging global crude prices, and strong quarter-end financial results.

“Speculations on likely release of $1 billion IMF tranche next week, IMF’s higher growth forecast of over 4 per cent in FY22 and upbeat data on car sales played a catalytic role in the bullish close.”

An analyst at Topline Securities said the bulls dominated the trading on Thursday. “After sideways opening, the market witnessed recovery, as investors cheered the clarity over political noise where Fawad Chaudhry, minister of information, said that the government and military are on the same page.”

“Further, he said that the process for appointing the new ISI DG will be completed soon.”

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Unilever Foods, up Rs600 to close at Rs21,000/share; and Nestle Pakistan, up Rs135 to close at Rs5,850/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Highnoon Laboratories, down Rs17.17 to close at Rs575.1/share; and Pak Engineering, down Rs14.5 to close at Rs330.5/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 66.16 million shares. The scrip gained 37 paisas to close at Rs2.43/share; followed by Unity Foods with a turnover of 25.02 million shares. It gained Rs1.98 to close at Rs28.5/share. Telecard Limited remained the third with a turnover of 18.98 million shares. It gained Rs1.15 to finish at Rs16.54.