PSX: The stock market is still optimistic about the progress of the IMF accord

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange opened in the green zone on Monday, boosting investor confidence after the government met all of the International Monetary Fund’s pre-conditions (IMF).

According to a Pearl Securities analyst, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s impending visit to China would also be a good event in the coming days.

“On the other hand, profit-taking was seen in the recent hours as worldwide oil prices soared beyond $90/barrel, while the government is preparing to raise petroleum product prices in February 2022,” he said.

The KSE-100 shares Index rose 0.66 percent, or 296.77 points, to settle at 45,374.68 points on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The KSE-30 Index rose 0.21 percent, or 36.97 points, to 17,829.96 points at the closing.

There were 360 scrips active, with 237 advancings, 96 declinings, and 27 remaining stables.

The ready market volume was 251.68 million shares, compared to 258.9 million shares traded in the previous trading session.

According to a Topline Securities analyst, stocks ended the day on a bullish note, with Bank Al Falah, Colgate Palmolive, and TRG Pakistan adding a total of 104 points to the benchmark Index.

“The market stayed bullish throughout the day, reaching an intraday high of 384 points as investors celebrated news of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip to Beijing on February 3 to sign a $3 billion loan to stabilize foreign currency reserves,” he added.

Analysts predict the market to perform strongly when the IMF accord is approved on February 2, 2022, and propose that investors use a buy on dip approach in the next week.

Colgate Palmolive, up Rs162.98 to end at Rs2,447.99/share, and Rafhan Maize, up Rs150 to close at Rs9,750/share, were the firms with the biggest increases.

Sapphire Fiber, which lost Rs22.31 to end at Rs838.67/share, and Philip Morris Pakistan, which lost Rs20 to conclude at Rs750/share, were among the firms that suffered the highest losses.

With a transaction of 22.93 million shares, Treet Corporation had the largest volume. With a transaction of 22.49 million shares, the stock gained Rs2.15 to end at Rs40.69/share, followed by Worldcall Telecom, which gained 3 paisas to close at Rs2.24/share. With a volume of 18.12 million shares, TRG Pakistan stayed third. It increased by Rs1.77 to Rs88.93 per share.