KARACHI: Tuesday’s turbulent session ended with the stock market closing higher due to growing expectations of an impending interest rate cut in the wake of the CPI-based inflation rate sharply declining to 20.68 percent in March.
The market appeared to be recovering, according to Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation Ltd., as investors took into consideration the 22-month low inflation data, which was below the Ministry of Finance’s prediction of 23.5 percent. This is anticipated to open the door for a decrease in the State Bank’s policy rate the following month.
He claimed that discussions about privatizing loss-making state-owned businesses, the growth in global equities and crude oil prices, and the stability of the exchange rate all contributed to the index’s continued optimism.
According to Topline Securities Ltd., trading got off to a good start as the KSE 100-share index increased by 163 points, reaching an intraday high of 66,960, which is slightly below the 67,000 mark.
But some investors cut their early gains by taking profits at the peak of the day. In light of the impending Eidul Fitr holidays, which begin on April 9, and the lack of any catalyst that could change the course of the market, the cautious market participants opted to remain flat.
The KSE-100 index so closed at 66,886.26 points, down 0.13 percent, or 89.94 points, from the previous day.
At 239.6 million shares, the total trading volume increased by 0.34 percentage points. Day-over-day, the transacted value increased by 6.94 per cent to Rs8.94 billion.
WorldCall Telecom Ltd (32.34 million shares), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (27.13 million shares), Pak Reinsurance Ltd (13.12 million shares), Telecard Ltd (9.53 million shares), and Flying Cement Ltd (7.38 million shares) were among the stocks that made up a substantial portion of the traded volume.
Hallmark Company Ltd. (Rs39.60), Pakistan Services Company Ltd. (Rs34.50), Sazgar Engineering Company Ltd. (Rs22.43), Murree Brewery (Rs22.11), and Atlas Honda Ltd. (Rs14.00) were the shares showing the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms.
Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs47.85), Abbott Lab Ltd (Rs23.22), Mari Petroleum Ltd (Rs22.02), Blessed Textile Ltd (Rs19.80), and Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs17.11) were the firms with the largest absolute declines in share prices.
Foreign purchasers continued to be net buys as they purchased $0.42 million worth of shares.
