KARACHI: The bulls do not seem ready to lighten the grip on Pakistan Stock Exchange with support of positive expectations from the upcoming budget, corporate statistics, and the gradual drop in the COVID-19 fatality and spread rates ended the first trading day of the week on a positive note.
Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) ended the day 90.96 points (0.19 per cent) up at 48,302.66 points against the previous closing of 48,211.70 points. The market went as high as 48,636.29 points during intra-day trading, while recorded as low as 48,211.70 points.
Trading volumes moved up to 936.08 million shares today, as compared to 867.3 billion shares during the previous trading day, while the daily traded value also improved to Rs 27.68 million from Rs 26.57 billion in the previous session, the data said.
There was sound footage provided by the corrections last week that helped the market regain the upward movement as an extension of the previous two-week long bullish trend, traders and analysts said. The news such as an increase in cement sales despite price increase and COVID reflected the growth mode of the economy and kept investors interested. On the other hand news of the reopening of public places and social activities in Punjab, the highest populated province also added to the hopes and supported market sentiments today.
According to the estimates for the month of May local sales of cement jumped 41 percent in spite of the long Eid-ul-Fitr holidays and price increase by manufacturers in the North region.
As per data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), the cement sector showed excellent growth of 49.86 per cent in May 2021. Total cement dispatches during May were 3.947 million tonnes as compared to 2.634m tonnes during the same month in the previous fiscal year.
The share price of Unilever Foods increased by Rs899 to Rs17,199 while Rafhan Maize gained Rs275 to Rs9,725. On the other hand, Wyeth Pakistan Limited lost Rs197.38 today to close at Rs2,434.39 while Mehmood Textile lost Rs12.04 to close at Rs405.
