Bulls were on the rampage again on Friday as the investors at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) drove the benchmark KSE-100 index to smash the all-time high 80,000-point barrier. Making back-to-back historic records, the share prices soared by 1,237 points as the trading began on Friday, tossing the index to 80,049 points. Later some profit-taking was witnessed which took the index down the 80,000 mark. Experts opined that the upward trajectory was due to the government’s decision to finalise a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They expect the budget to set ambitious fiscal targets as it looks to strengthen the case for a new bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On Thursday, the 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gained 2,094.76 points to close at historic level of 78,801.53 points due to widespread interest in banking sector. A total of 452,637,253 shares valuing Rs.20.675 billion were traded during the day as compared to 395,897,996 shares valuing Rs. 21.366 billion the last day.

Some 447 companies transacted their shares in the stock market; 256 of them recorded gains and 133 sustained losses, whereas the share prices of 58 remained unchanged. On Thursday, buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including OGDC, POL, SHEL, SNGPL, MEBL, HBL traded in the green. However, it was the banking sector that contributed most to the benchmark’s gain. Volume on the all-share index increased to 452.63 million from 395.89 million a session ago. The value of shares declined to Rs20.67 billion from Rs21.37 billion in the previous session. Silk Bank Ltd was the volume leader with 53.58 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 23.11 million shares, and Habib Bank with 20.94 million shares.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan