Pakistan stocks gain 113 points amid economic uncertainty

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks gained 113 points on Thursday amid economic uncertainty and political instability.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 40,733 points from previous day’s closing of 40,620 points, showing an increase of 113 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that nnother mixed session was observed at the PSX during the day.

Owing to the ongoing political instability, the market opened in the negative zone, but fluctuated both ways as the index reached an intraday high of 206.72 points and finished in the green as investors remained optimistic about the 9th tranche of the IMF deal. Volumes remained steady across the board.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Fertilizer (+49.1 points), Power Generation & Distribution (+33.1 points), Technology & Communication (+32.6 points), Cement (+31.7 points), and Pharmaceuticals (+19.9 points).

Volumes decreased from 131.1 million shares to 124.1 million shares (-5.3 per cent DoD). The average traded value also decreased by 3.2 per cent to USD 22.6 million as against USD 21.8 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes are WTL, PPL, DFML, GGL and OGDC.