KARACHI: The stock market maintained a bullish outlook as equity investors continued value-hunting on Tuesday, pushing the KSE 100-share index further higher.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said strong valuations in oil and banking scrips attracted aggressive buying interest on news of a major hydrocarbon discovery.

Oil and Gas Develop­ment Company Ltd informed the PSX that it has discovered hydrocarbon reserves at Togh-02 well in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Meanwhile, the board of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation at its meeting approved the divestment and restructuring of the national carrier.

Mr Mehanti said surging global stocks, rupee stability and higher global crude oil prices contributed to a bullish close at the PSX.

Topline Securities Ltd said throughout the session, the index exhibited a mixed performance, experiencing intraday highs and lows at 65,990 and 65,493 points, respectively.

The fertiliser, banking, and cement sectors, with Fauji Fertiliser Company, Meezan Bank Ltd, United Bank Ltd, Lucky Cement and Engro Corporation collectively added 305 points to the index. Conversely, Engro Fertilisers, Bank AlFalah Ltd and MCB Bank wiped out 51 points.

As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 65,906.28 points after rallying by 380.63 points or 0.58 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume continued expanding by 16.27pc to 303.71 million shares. The traded value also swelled by 35.01pc to Rs12.07bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (30.29m shares), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (28.14m shares), National Bank Ltd (21.03m shares), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (20.90m shares) and WorldCall Telecom (11.81m shares).

Shares registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs89.89), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs87.50), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs51.50), Shahmurad Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs30.74) and Blessed Textile Mills Ltd (Rs11.00).

Companies registering the biggest decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs37.17), Philip Morris (Rs25.00), Mehmood Textile Mills Ltd (Rs12.86), Pakistan Hotels Developers Ltd (Rs5.00) and Archroma Pakistan Ltd (Rs4.00).

Foreign investors remai­ned net buyers as they bou­ght shares worth $1.29m.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024