PSX Gains Over 800 Points as Investors Return to Buying

Buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained over 800 points. At close, the KSE-100 Index was up 808 points (or 0.7 percent) to close at 114,872 points. Brokerage house Topline Securities highlighted in a note that the index dropped sharply by 1,128 points early in the day due to selling pressure, especially from leveraged investors. However, the market showed strong recovery in the second half. Market sentiment improved as margin related selling eased and investors began to buy quality stocks at lower levels, it added. The recovery was mainly supported by key stocks like ENGROH, MARI, SYS, MCB, and SNGP. These names alone contributed around 760 points to the overall index gain, showing their strong impact on market movement, Topline said. A total of 409,933,985 shares were traded during the day as compared to 417,678,645 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs. 29.06 billion against Rs. 26.12 billion on the last trading day. As many as 444 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 211 of them recorded gains and 182 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 51 companies remained unchanged. In a major development today, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formally notified that the Executive Board meet to discuss the first review of ongoing $7 billion bailout programme as well as a new $1.3 billion arrangement under a climate resilience loan programme on May 9.