Despite inflation jitters, KSE-100 gains nearly 500 points in range-bound session

• Amid a lack of positive triggers, the ongoing results season managed to retain investor interest.
• Investors remained on the sidelines as concerns regarding inflation dented their sentiments.
• Benchmark KSE-100 index gains 1.08% to settle at 44,461.01 points.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its bull-run on Monday and the KSE-100 index rose nearly 500 points; however, investors remained concerned about rising geopolitical uncertainty.

Amid a lack of positive triggers, the ongoing results season managed to retain investor interest.

The market opened on a negative note on the backdrop of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and increased political noise.

Investors remained on the sidelines as concerns regarding inflation dented their sentiments.

On the corporate front, Searle Limited disclosed its 2QFY22 earnings where the company posted earnings per share of Rs2.6 (down 6% year-on-year). The result was higher than expected due to higher than anticipated other income.

At the close, the benchmark KSE-100 index gained 476.77 points, or 1.08%, to settle at 44,461.01 points.

A report from Arif Habib Limited noted that the market opened under pressure as “inflationary concerns arose due to higher fuel prices and overheated commodities cycle.”

“In the first hour of trading, the cement sector stayed in the red zone due to higher international coal prices,” it said, adding that the main board activity remained gloomy.

On the other side, activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the third tier stocks.

The brokerage house noted that in the last trading hour, value buying was observed which led the index to close in the green zone.

Shares of 340 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 226 scrips closed in the green, 96 in the red, and 18 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 208.12 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 241.63 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.06 billion.

Agritech was the volume leader with 15.67 million shares traded, gaining Re1 to close at Rs5.81. It was followed by TPL Properties with 14.27 million shares traded, gaining Rs2.16 to close at Rs31.09, and Flying Cement with 12.93 million shares traded, losing Rs0.10 to close at Rs0.99.