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KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday continued its positive momentum on expectations of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week.
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 41,434.33 level, an increase of 97.33 points or 0.24%. It had earlier hit an intra-day high of 41,797.71.
Last week on Friday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index had closed over 600 points up, with investors hoping that an action plan to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was now complete.
On Monday, all index-heavy sectors, including the oil and gas industry, commercial banks, cement, and chemical industries, saw widespread buying before the descent began.
The optimism was attributed by experts to news of inflows from friendly nations and expectations that the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program will resume.
Pakistan is in the midst of a severe economic crisis, with its reserves depleting to $3.8bn, not enough to cover even a month’s import bill. In such a situation, the country urgently needs to sign a deal with the IMF that would not only release $1.2bn but also unlock funding from friendly countries and other multilateral lenders.
Of the 94 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 54 closed up 35 closed down, and 5 remained unchanged. The total volume traded for the index was 96.27 million shares.
Sectors propping up the index were Miscellaneous with 61 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 36 points, Cement with 35 points, Technology & Communication with 32 points, and Pharmaceuticals with 9 points.
The most points added to the index were by PSEL which contributed 60 points followed by PPL with 43 points, TRG with 19 points, LUCK with 16 points, and ABOT with 15 points.
Sector-wise, the index was let down by Fertilizer with 32 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 20 points, Chemical with 12 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 8 points, and Commercial Banks with 7 points.
The most points taken off the index was by EFERT which stripped the index of 14 points followed by ENGRO, UBL & MARI with 11 points and RMPL with 10 points.
All Share Volume increased by 26.73mn to 221.55mn shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs8.57 billion.
The total companies traded were 334 compared to 342 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 206 closed up, 111 closed down and 17 remained unchanged.
