KARACHI: Bullish sentiments prevailed in the stock market for the second consecutive session as trade activities through the Torkham border resu­med with Afghanistan aft­er remaining suspended since Jan 13, propelling the KSE-100 index above the 64,000-point level on Tuesday.

Topline Securities Ltd said equities experienced significant volatility as the benchmark KSE 100-share index hit an intraday low of 389.80 points to 63,549.61 and a high of 718.76 points to 64,658.17.

Oil and Gas Develo­pment Company Ltd and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd faced a bearish start as investors responded unfavourably to the Ministry of Finance’s rejection of the circular debt reduction plan. This decision was grounded in the government’s commitment to the International Mone­tary Fund, which restricts additional unbu­dgeted spending in 2023-24. However, a shift occurred during the second half of the session, marked by buying activity as investors seized the opportunity presented by lower stock prices.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said a strong rupee and foreign corporate inflows contributed to the market’s positive performance.

As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 64,454.22 points after gaining 514.81 points or 0.81 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading

volume rose 45.52pc to 425.70 million shares. The traded value surged 99.72pc to Rs24.99bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (133.53m shares), Fauji Foods Ltd (44.93m shares), K-Electric Ltd (28.44m shares), Pakistan Petro­leum Ltd (27.78) and Pakis­tan International Airlines Corporation Ltd (22.58m shares).

Shares registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan (Rs80.00), Mari Petroleum Ltd (Rs74.01), Bata Pakis­tan (Rs43.45), JDW Sugar Mills (Rs24.90) and Faisal Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs23.00).

Companies registering the biggest decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs120.00), Philip Morris (Pakistan) Ltd (Rs34.89), Ibrahim Fibres Ltd (Rs29.00), Premium Textile Mills Ltd (Rs20.00) and Pakistan Hotels Develo­pers Ltd (Rs10.24).

Foreign investors remained net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $2.81m.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2024