KARACHI: Despite the weakening of the rupee driven by uncertainty about the approval of a new loan by the IMF board this month, Pakistani shares staged a rally on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing streak. This was aided by the start of the privatisation process for three power companies, propelling the benchmark KSE 100 share index above the 78,000 level.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation attributed the recovery to a strong earnings outlook and significant progress on the privatisation front. Media reports suggest the Privatisation Commission had invited technical and financial proposals to appoint financial advisers for the divestment of state-owned Islamabad Electric Supply Company, Gujranwala Electric Power Company and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company.

He added that surging global crude oil prices, falling Karachi Interbank Offered rates, and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s affirmation that the IMF board was now expected to approve the $7bn Extended Fund Facility next month contributed to the bull run as clarity emerged that Pakistan is not on agenda of IMF executive board’s Aug 28 meeting.

The index showcased impressive volatility, peaking at 78,457 and dipping to 77,969 points during the session. However, it settled at 78,260.86 after adding 515.34 points or 0.66pc on a day-on-day basis.

Fertiliser and banking sectors, with heavyweights National Bank of Pakistan, Fauji Fertiliser, United Bank, Engro Fertiliser and HabibMetro Bank, positively contributed 249 points to the index.

The trading volume rose 45.13pc to 552.56 million shares. The traded value also surged 29.83pc to Rs14.59bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Kohinoor Spinning Mills Ltd (62.92m shares), Power Cement (41.96m shares), Yousuf Weaving (37.36m shares), Pakistan Telecom (33.65m shares) and WorldCall Telecom (20.90m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increa­ses in their share prices in absolute terms were Unile­ver Pakistan Food (Rs219.46), Unilever Foods (Rs219.46), Al-Abbas Sugar (Rs32.55), Sazgar Engine­ering (Rs29.93), Atlas Battery (Rs18.67) and Ibrahim Fibres (Rs14.76).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Hoechst Pak(Rs125.90), Ismail Industries (Rs61.50), Allawasaya Tex (Rs52.81), Khyber Textile (Rs36.84) and Nestle Pakistan (Rs27.11).

Foreign investors turned net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.60m.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2024