KARACHI: Shrugging off overnight volatility, bulls returned with a bang staging a spectacular rally tossing the benchmark KSE 100 index to its highest-ever closing above the 72,000 level on Friday.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said str­o­ng corporate earnings out­l­ook and robust inflows thr­o­ugh Roshan Digital Acc­ount (RDA) in March boo­sted investor sentiments.

Inflows through RDA increased by $182 million in March, up 29pc from $141m in February, bringing the total to $7.660 billion since its launch in September 2020. It is enco­uraging for both the SBP and the government, as they struggle to improve their payment capacity for imports and debt servicing.

He added that steady SBP foreign exchange reserves despite $1bn eurobond payment in the middle of this month bringing exchange rate stability amid speculation ahead of SBP policy rate decision on April 29 were other key factors contributed to the bull-run.

Topline Securities Ltd said major positive contribution to the index came from Engro Fertilisers Bank AlHabib Ltd, Hub Power Company, Fajui Fertiliser Company and Engro Corporation, as they cumulatively contributed 577 points to the index.

As a result, the index hit an intraday record high of 72,826.41 and a low of 71,764.18. However, it closed at an all-time high of 72,742.75 points after adding 771.35 points, or 1.07pc, from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume dipped 32.23pc to 541.14 million shares. The traded value also fell 17.98pc to Rs22.58bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Askari Bank (39.17m shares), K-Electric Ltd (31.23m shares), Worldcall Telecom (30.15m shares), Cnergyico PK (26.13m shares) and Unity Foods (22.02m shares).

The companies registering the major increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan (Rs131.74), Sapp­hire Fibres (Rs104.12), Hallmark Company Ltd (Rs80.30), Sazgar Engin­eering Works Ltd (Rs37.52) and Pakistan Services Ldd (Rs23.48).

The shares registering the most significant decre­ases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs101.08), Philip Morris (Rs38.36), Reliance Cotton (Rs32.13), Hoechst Pakistan Ltd (Rs30.21) and Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs26.11).

Foreign investors continued value-hunting as their net buying of shares stood at $0.19m.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024