KSE-100 gains 228 points to settle at 47,721

WEB DESK: In a highly volatile trading session on Monday, the stock market displayed significant fluctuations, swinging between gains and losses throughout the day.

At the closing bell, the benchmark KSE-100 index settled at 47,721.8, marking a 0.48 per cent increase or 228.23 points from Friday’s close.

Notably, this movement followed a substantial gain of 1,260.98 points, or 2.73 per cent, recorded in the previous week.

The robust performance can be attributed to the continuous strengthening of the Pakistani rupee (PKR), which appreciated against the US dollar (USD) for the 23rd consecutive session and closed at Rs281.65 after gaining 0.37 per cent.

The KSE-100 Index witnessed a total trading volume of 116.346 million shares. Among the 100 index companies, 38 experienced gains, 52 saw declines, 3 remained unchanged, and 7 were not traded.

The positive momentum of the KSE-100 index was buoyed by the strong performance of commercial banks (88.81 points), power generation and distribution (78.28 points), fertilizer (66.14 points), oil and gas exploration companies (18.88 points), and cement (18.19 points).

Key contributors to the index included HUBC (72.24 points), FFC (49.93 points), BAHL (40.65 points), UBL (33.8 points), and MCB (25.74 points).

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Conversely, sectors such as investment banks, investment companies, and securities companies (-19.99 points), technology & communication (-17.46 points), chemical (-15.88 points), engineering (-8.44 points), and glass & ceramics (-5.76 points) pulled the index lower.

A total of 113,405 trades were reported across 332 companies. Among them, 150 companies experienced gains, 166 faced losses, and 16 remained unchanged.

It’s noteworthy that the KSE-100 has demonstrated remarkable growth during the fiscal year, gaining 6,269 points, or 15.12 per cent.