Shares jump 252 points on buying in oil and banking sectors

KARACHI: Thursday closed in positive territory for the second consecutive day as there was buying interest in the oil and banking sectors following developments in these areas at the government level.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) KSE-100 share index rose 252.61 points or 0.32 percent to 78,528.25 points as against 78,275.65 points recorded in the last session. The day’s high remained at 78,978.60 points, while the low was recorded at 78,294.23 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said: “Shares closed higher on strong oil and banking valuations.” He informed the Minister of Finance’s proposal to abolish the 15 percent additional tax on banking profits for approval by the NA; government approval of R82 billion of OGDC principal receivables and interest payments of R92 billion; and considerations on the privatization of state-owned enterprises played a catalytic role in the growth activity on PSX.

The KSE-30 index increased by 51.42 points, or 0.20 percent, to 25,432.78 points from 25,381.36 points. The number of shares outstanding fell by 186 million shares to 283.542 million shares from 469.756 million shares. The turnover value decreased to 11.067 billion rupees from 19.777 billion rupees. Market capital increased to 10.333 trillion rupees compared to 10.297 trillion rupees. Of the 426 stocks active on the session, 211 closed in the green, 150 in the red and 65 remained unchanged.

Naveed Nadeem, analyst at Topline Securities, said the Pakistani stock market had a positive day on Thursday as the KSE 100 index rose to an intraday high of 78,979 points and a low of 78,294 points to close at 78,528 points (up 253 points or 0.32 cents).

Fertilizers, Banking, Cement and E&P sectors contributed positively with FFC, UBL, THALL, OGDC and MARI collectively adding 214 points to the benchmark index. The top gainer was in Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited which rose by Rs 104.99 to Rs 18,396.67 per share, followed by Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited which rose by Rs 67.21 to Rs 7,650 per share. A significant decline was seen in Fateh Industries Limited which fell by Rs 11.86 to Rs 122.54 per share, followed by Dawood Lawrencepur Limited which closed lower by Rs 7.39 to Rs 212 per share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said PSX posted additional gains, showing improved market breadth as it tries to carve out support at the 78,000 level. Looking ahead to Friday, maintaining levels above 78,000 will be key. Holding this support could potentially set up a reversal move towards the 80,000 level, indicating a solid recovery phase in the market.

Market analysts are closely monitoring the developments as the results of the upcoming sessions will be crucial in determining the direction of the market. PSX’s resilience and broad participation suggest potential stabilization if key support levels are maintained.

WorldCall Telecom remained the volume leader with 27.558 million shares that closed higher by one paisa to Rs 1.25 per share. It was followed by K-Electric Ltd. with 21.974 million shares that closed higher by 9 paisa to Rs 4.67 per share.

Other notable stocks with heavy turnover included Oil & Gas Dev, Pervez Ahmed Co, JS Bank Ltd, PTCL, Faysal Bank, Dewan Motors, Cnergyico PK and TRG Pak Ltd. In the futures market, 308 stocks saw turnover, of which 140 rose, 162 declined and 6 remained unchanged.