PSX closes week on positive note

• Benchmark KSE-100 index gains 263.35 points to close at 45,345.65 points.
• Shares of 354 companies were traded during the session.
• Trading volumes drop to 242.26 million shares.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reversed its downtrend on the last day of the trading week ahead of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review regarding the $6 billion loan programme scheduled for next week.

Investors cherished the recovery of the local currency and progress in the approval of the supplementary finance bill.

At the close, the benchmark KSE-100 index gained 263.35 points, or 0.58%, to close at 45,345.65 points.

Arif Habib Limited in its post-market closing noted that the index closed in the green zone today as investors became optimistic about IMF’s Executive Board meeting on January 12.

“Profit-taking was witnessed in the first trading hour as coronavirus positivity ratio exceeded 2% in a single day for the first time since October 14 last year,” it said, adding that the fertiliser sector remained in the limelight due to expectation of a price hike of urea in the market.

Meanwhile, the cement sector remained under pressure due to the uptick in international coal prices.

Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (+108 points), fertiliser (+98 points), power (+46 points), exploration and production (+36 points) and engineering (+11 points).

Shares of 354 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 208 scrips closed in the green, 124 in the red, and 22 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 242.26 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 345.29 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.93 billion.

Telecard Limited was the volume leader with 26.14 million shares traded, gaining Rs1.17 to close at Rs18.43. It was followed by WorldCall Limited with 21.66 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.02 to close at Rs2.28, and TRG Pakistan with 18.99 million shares traded, losing Rs8.57 to close at Rs105.76.