KSE-100 Index goes up by 111.86 points

The KSE-100 Index gained 111.86 points and closed at 33,804.90 as the share prices of 176 companies went up at Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday.

As 128,014,330 shares of 330 companies were traded during the session, 135 of these saw their share prices going down while there was no change in the case of 19.

It was less bad session for the top carmakers while those manufacturing tractors saw their share going up. Meanwhile, the Indus Motors saw its shares going down by Rs32.62.

It is a continuation of an overall trend as 24NewsHD TV reported that not a single locally-manufactured car was sold during the month of April.

But it would be wrong to solely blame the coronavirus-induced lockdown for the overall miserable state of affairs. It is because of the fact that a 52 percent reduction in car sales has been witnessed during the first 10 months of the financial year 2019-20 when compared with the corresponding period in 2018-19.

Much before the coronavirus pandemic, the industry has been badly affected by the rupee depreciation and the resultant increase in cost which automatically forced the manufacturers to transfer this to the buyers. Hence, less number of vehicles are being sold since the government decided to go for devaluation.

Meanwhile, the majority of the companies in the cement sector shed their values. However, the losses were not huge. The share prices of most of the commercial banks too decreased during the session.

However, the food and personal care as well as pharmaceutical companies performed very well.