KARACHI: The bullish momentum continued on the national bourse on Tuesday with the benchmark index of representative shares rising amid positive triggers on the economic front.

Topline Securities said the upward trend in equities could be attributed to the acknowledgment by the International Mone­tary Fund’s (IMF) representative with regard to the continuation of engagement with Pakistan for the ninth review of the $7 billion loan facility.

In addition, a consistent decline in international coal prices and the expectation of a better offtake kept the cement sector in the limelight throughout the session.

Arif Habib Ltd said share prices soared after the finance minister indicated that the government was on track to the resumption of the IMF programme.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,671.66 points, up 331.60 points or 0.8 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 42.9pc to 197.7 million shares. The traded value went up 0.6pc to $22.6m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (31m shares), Air Link Communication Ltd (21.3m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (10.7m shares), Bank Alfalah Ltd (9.2m shares) and Globe Residency REIT (8m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were cement (95.5 points), exploration and production (69.5 points), technology and communication (58.8 points), fertiliser (29.7 points) and food and personal care products (25.9 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs330), Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs130), Bhanero Textile Mills Ltd (Rs80.64), Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs39.33) and Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs34.64).

Companies that reco­rded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs29.34), Service Industries Ltd (Rs5.60), Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs4.53), Thal Ltd (Rs4.10) and Pakistan International Container Terminal Ltd (Rs3.79).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.57m.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2023