KARACHI: The stock market made a strong recovery on Friday after two consecutive days of losses, with value-hunters driving the benchmark KSE 100 index up by 927.86 points, or 0.84%, closing at 111,351.
According to Topline Securities Ltd, the market primarily remained in the positive zone throughout the day. Key contributors to the recovery included Mari Petroleum, Meezan Bank, PSO, Bank Alfalah, and TRG Pakistan, which together added 416 points to the index.
TRG Pakistan attracted significant attention after news broke that Greentree Holdings, a major shareholder, planned to acquire up to 35.145% of the company.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation attributed the recovery to strong corporate profit forecasts. Positive factors included a strong rupee, rising exports, higher global oil prices, and falling government bond yields amid low inflation, all of which boosted investor confidence.
Ali Najib of Insight Securities noted that after suffering major losses, investors took advantage of value-buying opportunities in sectors like exploration, banking, oil marketing, technology, and cement.
The day’s trading volume increased by 29.91% to 815.92 million shares, while the value of trades declined by 1.98% to Rs 32.91 billion. Major contributors to trading volume included Fauji Foods (104.42 million shares), WorldCall Telecom (74.13 million shares), Cnergyico PK (40.46 million shares), TRG Pakistan (40.06 million shares), and Hascol Petroleum (34.62 million shares).
Significant share price increases were seen in Hoechst Pakistan (Rs 147.06), Ismail Industries (Rs 79.71), Bata Pakistan (Rs 53.65), Sapphire Textile (Rs 36.86), and Faisal Spinning Mills (Rs 28.83). Conversely, the biggest price declines were seen in Rafhan Maize (Rs 113.46), Nestle Pakistan (Rs 53.11), Premium Textile (Rs 27.22), Haleon Pakistan (Rs 23.20), and Mitchells Fruit Farm (Rs 21.44).
