KARACHI: Assuming that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will declare no change to its monetary policy, investors’ interest in the Pakistan Stock Exchange increased on Monday.
The market started well, and shortly after that, the benchmark KSE100 index reached an intraday high of 42,441.29 points. Topline Securities, in its report, said the KSE-100 index largely traded in the positive zone, which could be attributed to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement that Pakistan would not seek debt restructuring from the Paris Club and would meet all multilateral, international, and bond payments. A major contribution to the index came from TRG Pakistan, Lotte Chemical, Oil and Gas Development Company, Pak Elektron, and Dawood Hercules as they cumulatively contributed 144 points. On the flip side, Meezan Bank, Engro Fertilizers, Engro Corporation, Frieslandcampina Engro Pakistan, and Colgate-Palmolive lost value, removing 86 points from the index.
As many as 240 million shares were exchanged for the day, which is a 23% decrease in volume, and Rs10.5 billion, an 11% increase in value. With 31 million shares traded, WorldCall Telecom led the pack in terms of volume, Topline noted. In its report, Arif Habib Limited claimed that during the trading day, bulls and bears engaged in combat. The market began in the green and held that position for most of the day in anticipation of a rate drop in monetary policy, it added. Despite investor activity remaining slow, third-tier companies were in the spotlight as mainboard volumes declined.
