Stocks stage 243-point rally

KARACHI: Stocks rallied on Thursday as the rupee continued extending its gains against the dollar while the cut-off yields on three- and six-month treasury bills fell by two and 15 basis points, respectively.

Arif Habib Ltd said trading stayed mostly in the green territory as investors opted for value hunting after some clarity emerged in the Finance Act passed by the National Assembly.

JS Global said it expects the stock market to be range-bound in coming sessions because of the current political scenario and the finalisation of a deal with the International Monetary Fund. “Going forward, we recommend investors should stay cautious but avail any downside as a buying opportunity.”

The KSE-100 index settled at 41,540.83 points, up 243.1 points or 0.59 per cent from a day ago. It was also the last trading session of 2021-22, which saw the benchmark lose 12.3pc value on an annual basis.

The trading volume increased 35.7pc to 192.9 million shares while the traded value went up 26.9pc to $33.1m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included K-Electric Ltd (17.5m shares), Agritech Ltd (13.78m shares), Fauji Cement Company Ltd (13.1m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (9.45m shares) and Pakistan Refinery Ltd (8m shares).

Sectors that contributed the highest number of points to the benchmark index included commercial banking (111.43 points), oil and gas exploration (58.81 points), power generation and distribution (26.94 points), technology and communication (24.86 points) and cement (23.18 points).

Shares contributing most positively to the index included the Hub Power Company Ltd (35 points), Habib Bank Ltd (23.25 points), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (21.99 points), Systems Ltd (21.38 points) and Meezan Bank Ltd (19.65 points).

Stocks that contributed most negatively to the index included Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (26.23 points), Millat Tractors Ltd (7.93 points), EFU General Insurance Ltd (6.54 points), Engro fertilisers Ltd (4.99 points) and Fauji Cement Company Ltd (4.96 points).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.36m.