-Trades record 1.56b shares in a day
-Positive market sentiment led to the higher trading
-Minister attributes record-breaking episode to PM’s policies
From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange recorded an all-time high volume of stocks traded during Wednesday’s session amid a positive sentiment due to GDP growth numbers and market-friendly budget expectations.
“The market is optimistic due to the positive news relating to the economy,” said Ahmed Lakhani, a senior research analyst. “Especially the GDP growth rate of 3.94% and the development in the Reko Diq case have positively affected the market.”
On Tuesday, the British Virgin Islands High Court ordered unfreezing offshore assets of the Pakistan International Airlines in the Reko Diq case.
These assets include PIA’s interests in Roosevelt Hotel in New York and Scribe Hotel in Paris.
A total of 1.56 billion shares were traded during the session on Wednesday. The previous high was recorded in February this year when 1.12 billion shares were traded in a single day.
Lakhani said the market broke a psychological barrier of around 46,300, with new resistance levels now in sight. It added to the positivity too.
Worldcall Telecom Limited shares were the most traded at 707 million. Its value increased by 41% to Rs3.22 per share. The benchmark KSE-100 index rose by 511 points to 46,856 during the day.
Cement sales have been increasing, which has also been a reason for the positive vibes, Lakhani added.
Another analyst Faizan Ahmed said that the market is expecting that the capital gain tax will be revoked, which has been turning the investor sentiment positive. It expects the interest rates to remain unchanged in the upcoming monetary policy too.
The State Bank of Pakistan last year slashed the interest rates from 13.25% to 7%. Low interest rates mean cheap financing. Businesspersons also tend to take more loans to start new ventures or expand their operations, which in turn induces the overall growth.
But with more liquidity or cash in the economy, it also tends to increase inflation.
Following the record breaking, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib Wednesday said the prudent economic policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan were paying dividends as the pakistan stock exchange had set a new record of trading volume of one and a half billion shares.
All the previous records of shares trading had been broken, and the credit for the historic achievement went to the prime minister’s economic policies, which had given confidence to the investors and stabilized the economy, he said in a tweet.
