Stock market investors' confidence has been restored after the major progress in the privatization of national flag carrier Pakistan International Airline (PIA). Topline Securities CEO Mohammad Sohail said that due to the government’s decision to privatize the PIA, the market was gaining momentum. “If the government accelerates the sale of other loss-making state-owned enterprises, the market will experience an extraordinary boom,” he said.
On Thursday, trading started briskly in the stock market. As soon as the market opened, the 100 index recorded an increase of 143 points. The index continued to rise as buying pressure increased in the market.
At one point the index increased by 694 points but at the end it closed with 594-point increase. Business activities picked up as the market confidence was restored as over 42.11 million shares were traded on the day.
Traders invested Rs16 billion. Investors also earned a profit of Rs84 billion due to the boom in business. The total share value reached Rs9,430 billion.
talking to Suno News, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited Tahir Abbas said that the privatization of government institutions had been stalled for a long time.
however, he added, the current government had taken the best decision to get rid of loss-making government institutions. The IMF and other international institutions were also of the opinion that the government should reduce unnecessary expenditure and sell off loss-making enterprises, he said.
Meanwhile, shares of 332 companies were traded in the market. Share prices of 212 companies increased, 111 decreased and 29 remained stable. Shares of Rafhan Table Products Company advanced the most by Rs125 in the stock market, after which the price of one share of the company closed at Rs8,175.
Another big increase of Rs58 was seen in the share price of Bata Pakistan, after which its share price stood at Rs 1,739. The largest decline of Rs 600 was recorded in the shares of Unilever Pakistan Foods as the price of its one share closed at Rs21,000. The price of Nestle Pakistan decreased by Rs34.67 to Rs7,600.
