Stocks add 332 points on positive triggers
The bullish momentum continued on the national bourse on Tuesday with the benchmark index of representative shares rising amid positive triggers on the economic front. Topline Securities said the upward trend in equities could be attributed to the acknowledgment by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) representative with regard to the continuation of engagement with Pakistan for the ninth review of the $7 billion loan facility. In addition, a consistent decline in international coal prices and the expectation of a better offtake kept the cement sector in the limelight throughout the session. Arif Habib Ltd said share prices soared after the finance minister indicated that the government was on track to the resumption of the IMF programme. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,671.66 points, up 331.60 points or 0.8 per cent from the preceding session. The overall trading volume decreased 42.9pc to 197.7 million shares. The traded value went up 0.6pc to $22.6m on a day-on-day basis. Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (31m shares), Air Link Communication Ltd (21.3m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (10.7m shares), Bank Alfalah Ltd (9.2m shares) and Globe Residency REIT (8m shares).