The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a rollercoaster ride on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index frequently fluctuated before ending the day largely unchanged.
At the commencement of trading, the index surged to the intra-day high of 157,196.59 points, fuelled by investor interest in selective stocks. However, the enthusiasm died down as profit-taking set in, which pulled the index down to the day’s low at 155,960.36 well before midday.
Despite volatility, the KSE-100 managed to stay above the psychological barrier of 156,000 at the closing bell, reflecting investor caution about economic cues and political developments. Sector-wise, buying interest was noted in attractive stocks of technology, banking and cement sectors.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a meagre loss of 3.12 points at 156,177.82.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, observed that the KSE-100 index experienced a flat session, managing to hold steady above the 156,000 mark despite intra-day volatility.
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Some 40 shares rose while 59 fell with Systems Limited (+2.87%), The Bank of Punjab (+9.98%) and Lucky Cement (+1.16%) contributing the most to index gains. On the other side, Hub Power (-1.39%), Meezan Bank (-1.23%) and Pakistan Petroleum (-1.46%) were the biggest drags.
AHL pointed out that Systems Limited was in negotiations for the acquisition of an IT services business. In another corporate report, The Organic Meat Company (+10%) secured a $7.5 million export contract from China.
Meanwhile, Reko Diq Mining Company won financing commitments of over $5.5 billion from international financial institutions, which was above its actual funding requirement of $3.74 billion. In addition to that, the Ministry of Finance was continuing to focus on a reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio and ensuring early repayments, lower interest costs and a stronger external account.
AHL anticipated that the upside draw would remain at 158k against support at 154k.
Overall trading volumes increased to 1.5 billion shares compared to Tuesday’s tally of 1.4 billion. The value of shares traded was Rs48.9 billion.
Shares of 485 companies were traded. Of these, 235 stocks closed higher, 219 declined and 31 remained unchanged. WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with trading in 137.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.06 to close at Rs1.72.
