KARACHI: Bulls reclaimed their hold on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday and managed to break the cautious range-bound negative sentiments prevailing for the last three days. The investors’ confidence was boosted by the positive news from the global political front and encouraging disclosures with regards to the macroeconomy. In addition to this, some activities in the corporate sector also supported market sentiments.
The Karachi Share Index (KSE-100) advanced 340.91 points (0.75 percent) after closing at 45,914.98 points, against the previous closing of 45,514.07 points. The market went as high as 45,948.15 points during intraday trading, while recording as low as 45,551.40 points.
Trading volume moved down to 710.4million shares today, as compared to 784m traded in the previous session, according to PSX’s website data. The daily traded value declined to Rs19.65billion from Rs20.8bn in the previous session, the data said.
“Market was very depress in last few days both due to the situation in Gaza and uncertainty on the local political front related to it,” traders and analyst said.” There were cautious feeling regarding the Palestine situation as it could have lead to unrest here also but the ceasefire announcement relived investors to look at other economic fundamentals too,” they added.
The encouraging statement by the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Governor, Reza Baqir also was a confidence booster today.
Reza Baqir, during a meeting with the prime minister on Thursday said that the opening of the Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) by Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia has witnessed a significant upward trend following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to the Gulf country.
Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire after 11 days of intense battling that saw more than 250 Palestinians killed, over 1,000 injured. Hamas and Islamic Jihad also confirmed the ceasefire in statements regarding the ceasefire.
The share price of Nestle Pakistan increased by Rs247.67 to Rs5,798 while Wyeth Pakistan gained Rs111.30 to Rs1,595.32. On the other hand, Island Textile lost Rs69 today to close at Rs2,231, while Bata Pakistan lost Rs50 to close at Rs1,750.
