KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange observed a positive session on Thur­sday, thanks to the newfound stability in the value of the rupee against the dollar.

The rupee appreciated 0.07 per cent to 181.69 in the interbank market. In addition, monthly remittances rose to their highest level of $2.8bn in March.

According to Arif Habib Ltd, a rally took place in shares belonging to the refinery sector on the back of analysts’ expectations about improved earnings in the upcoming financial results season.

The main board activity remained dull whereas hefty buying was witnessed in third-tier stocks, said the brokerage. Investors resorted to across-the-board buying in the last trading hour, causing the market to close in the green zone.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 46,484.43 points, up 318.93 points or 0.69 per cent from a day ago.

The trading volume increased 4.3pc to 494.9 million shares while the traded value went down 5.4pc to $64.3m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnergyico PK Ltd (99.12m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (36.94m shares), Flying Cement Ltd (33.86m shares), TeleCard Ltd (32.97m shares) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (22.78m shares).

Sectors that contributed the highest number of points to the benchmark index included fertiliser (76.25 points), refinery (60.38 points), cement (58.79 points), chemical (37.9 points) and investment banking (18.04 points).

Shares contributing most positively to the index included Engro Corporation Ltd (63.38 points), Engro Polymer and Chemicals Ltd (45.4 points), Cnergyico PK Ltd (37.11 points), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (24.04 points) and Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd (13.64 points). Stocks that contributed most negatively to the index included Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (17.57 points), Meezan Bank Ltd (14.36 points), Bank Alfalah Ltd (11.67 points), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (8.07 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (7.17 points).

Shares that increased the most in percentage terms were Cnergyico PK Ltd (16.18pc), National Refinery Ltd (7.5pc), Attock Refinery Ltd (7.49pc), Engro Polymer and Chemicals Ltd (7.49pc) and Yousaf Weaving Mills Ltd (5.58pc).

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2022