KSE-100 extends gains with 79-point rise

• Index gains despite sluggish activity throughout the day.
• KSE-100 index closes at 39,972.64 points.
• Shares of 321 companies were traded today.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended gains on Wednesday despite sluggish activity throughout the day as the benchmark KSE-100 index gained nearly 80 points.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail assured that there is no risk of Pakistan defaulting anymore, which sparked positive momentum at the PSX.

Earlier, trading kicked off with a spike with the index surpassing the 40,000-point mark in the first hour of the session.

However, the gloomy scenario on the back of the depreciating Pakistan rupee and political uncertainty in the wake of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Punjab CM election shook investor confidence. The index dived by the end of the session.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 39,972.64 points with an increase of 78.59 points or 0.20%.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that PSX continued to remain under pressure throughout the day due to concerns regarding uncertain economic situations.

The benchmark KSE-100 index witnessed a volatile session as investors opted to remain sideways as the Pakistani rupee continued its freefall against the US dollar.

Mainboard volumes remained dry whereas decent volumes were observed in the third-tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (+76.9 points), chemicals (+54.2 points), technology (+27.5 points), engineering (+14.4 points), and cement (+10.1 points).

Shares of 321 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 153 scrips closed in the green, 141 in the red, and 27 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 121.57 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 131.86 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.19 billion.

Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 10.21 million shares traded, gaining Rs1.50 to close at Rs28.50. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 9.26 million shares traded, losing Rs0.02 to close at Rs1.18 and TPL Properties with 9.01 million shares traded, losing Rs0.05 to close at Rs17.27.