The Pakistan Stocks Exchange (PSX) witnessed a jittery session as the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended marginally positive, as volume and value of shares traded reduced from the last close on the first day of the week.

The benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an intraday high of 43,556.27, witnessing a surge of 323.44 points during the initial hours of trade. However, unable to sustain gains, the index dropped below the 43,000 mark at 42,972.02, registering a fall of 260.81 points.

At the close of the day, the benchmark index settled higher by 47.94 points or 0.11% at 43,280.77.

“Pakistani equities started the week on a positive note in the backdrop of Saudi Cash Facility of $3 billion credited in the SBP account over the weekend, as announced by Advisor to PM on Finance. Investors’ interest was seen mainly in the blue chips stocks having attractive price level and offering better dividend yields, relatively, in the environment of rising interest rates,” said Topline Securities in its post-market update.

On the economic front, the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended on 02nd December 2021 recorded a decrease of 0.48%, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)

Sectors adding gains to the benchmark index included oil and gas exploration (174.46 points), technology and communication (93.59 points), and power generation and distribution (31.56 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased significantly from 287.73 million to 176.91 million on Monday. The value of shares also declined, amounting to Rs6.08 billion, down from Rs10.28 billion on Friday.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 16.59 million shares, followed by Telecard Limited XB with 12.57 million shares, and TRG Pakistan Limited at 11.19 million shares.

Shares of 314 companies were traded on Monday, of which 122 registered an increase, 175 recorded a fall, and 17 remained unchanged.

This article was first published in Business Recorder on Dec 6, 2021.