Pakistan Stock Exchange sees positive trend with KSE-100 index near 140,000

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 index surged 863.90 points on Tuesday to reach 140,243.95 — up 0.62% during intra-day trading, from the previous close of 139,380.05 — as Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb departed for the United States to finalise a trade agreement.

This marks his second US visit in two weeks, with the government signalling that the deal with Washington is near.

The trip comes after Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the US and Pakistan were \"very close\" to a trade deal that could come within days, but comments from the US after Dar met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned no timeline.

KSE-100 index crossed the 140,000 mark earlier in the week but failed to sustain the level.

During the session, the index touched an intraday high of 140,296.65 and a low of 139,733.06.

Trading volume stood at 47.34 million shares, with a total value of Rs 5.36 billion.

On Monday, PSX closed modestly higher as the benchmark KSE-100 index rose 173 points to close at 139,380.

Investor sentiment was buoyed by optimism ahead of the State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) monetary policy announcement and the credit rating upgrade, bringing Pakistan's rating to 'B-' with a stable outlook.

In its review, Topline Securities noted that the market remained range-bound throughout the session, fluctuating between the intra-day high of 140,149 and the intra-day low of 139,196.

Top contributors to the index included Lucky Cement, Systems Limited, Pakistan State Oil, Fatima Fertiliser and Sazgar Engineering Works, which collectively added 379 points. On the other hand, UBL, Meezan Bank and Bank Alfalah were the major laggards, dragging the index down by 261 points, Topline added.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL) Deputy Head of Trading Ali Najib remarked that the PSX again attempted to pass the 140,000 mark but in vain, as the KSE-100 index ended the day at 139,380 points.

Overall trading volumes decreased to 589.3 million shares compared with Friday's tally of 634.8 million. Traded value increased to Rs34.6 billion as compared to Rs24.6 billion in the previous session.

Overall, shares of 483 companies were traded. Of these, 251 stocks closed higher, 205 dropped and 27 remained unchanged.

According to the source: The Express Tribune.