KARACHI: The stock market ended the trading week on Thursday with a bull run as share prices kept on rising after opening in the green zone.

Arif Habib Ltd said the index of representative shares hit an intraday high of 587.33 points with investors choosing to add value to their portfolios via stocks having strong fundamentals.

The rally in share prices followed a spree of impressive financial results before the beginning of extended Eid holidays. Overall volumes climbed sharply, with third-tier stocks dominating the volume board.

Another reason for optimism was the release of current account data showing a surplus along with an upward trend on foreign direct investment.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,007.82 points, up 508.48 points or 1.26 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume increased 106.5pc to 173.8 million shares. The traded value went up 58pc to $20.2m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (22.2m shares), Fauji Foods Ltd (21.9m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (11.5m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (7.4m shares) and Engro Corporation Ltd (5.2m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were commercial banking (169.8 points), fertiliser (150.7 points), investment banking (68.3 points), cement (36.2 points) and power generation and distribution (35.7 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Khyber Textile Mills Ltd (Rs42.45), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs30), Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd (Rs17.37), Engro Corporation Ltd (Rs16.95) and Dawood Lawrencepur Ltd (Rs11.25).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs115), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs59), Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd (Rs40), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs12.95) and Hinopak Motors Ltd (Rs9.79).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.25m.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2023