KARACHI: Share prices rebounded on Thursday as investors scooped up value-yielding stocks.

Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark index traded in the green territory throughout the day as participation from investors remained on the higher side. The stock market witnessed some volatility during the last trading hour, but healthy volumes were still recorded across the board.

“The market is expected to be volatile as (Friday) is the last trading day of the calendar year. Any upside should be taken as an opportunity to book gains,” said JS Global in a note.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 39,747.36 points, up 467.93 points or 1.19 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 11.9pc to 227.8 million shares. The traded value went down 17.3pc to $31.1m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Bank Alfalah Ltd (52.2m shares), K-Electric Ltd (20.1m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (13.1m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (8.7m shares) and the Bank of Punjab Ltd (7.7m shares).

Sectors that contributed to the index performance were cement (93.4 points), technology and communication (89.4 points), fertiliser (69.3 points), exploration and production (39.4 points) and miscellaneous (36.8 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs592.65), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs366.24), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs95.22), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs70.88) and Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs64.99).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs77.50), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs44.20), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs39.86), Blessed Textiles Ltd (Rs20.09) and Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs10.67).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $6.94m.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2022