KARACHI: The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) registered an increase of 564.12 points or 1.25 per cent on Wednesday in spite of technical issues marring trading activity.

According to Topline Securities, the KSE-100 index rallied to 45,791.92 points owing to an improvement in investors’ sentiments.

Market participants rejoiced at the news of Saudi Arabia deciding to deposit $3 billion cash with the State Bank of Pakistan and provide $1.2bn worth of oil on deferred payments. The move is expected to pave the way for the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme.

On the corporate announcement front, MCB Bank announced a net profit of Rs22.9bn for the first nine months of 2021. In addition, National Bank of Pakistan posted a net income of Rs24.6bn for January-September, down 6pc from a year ago.

Market participation increased 10.8pc to 180.4 million shares on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (11.83m shares), Unity Foods Ltd (11.01m shares), Hum Network Ltd (10.17m shares), Byco Petroleum Ltd (8.94m shares) and Ghani Global Holdings Ltd (7.57m shares).

The highest increase was recorded in Allawasaya Textile and Finishing Mills Ltd, up by Rs122 followed by Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd Rs62.45, Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd Rs35, Blessed Textiles Ltd Rs39.79 and Ismail Industries Ltd Rs32.70.

Laggards were led by Sapphire Textile Mills down Rs92.90, Sapphire Fibres Ltd Rs50.50, Abbott Laboratories Pakistan Ltd Rs42.45, AKD Hospitality Ltd Rs24.43 and Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd Rs19.

Foreign investors re­­mained net sellers as they unloaded $2.27m worth of shares.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2021