Market watch: Foreigners turn net buyers, oil stocks lead the way

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 92.35 points

KARACHI: A see-saw ride ended with the index posting a 92-point gain on Thursday, as an uptick in global crude oil prices and results announcements kept investors interested.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index rose 0.30% or 92.35 points to end at 31,193.73.

Topline Securities, in its report, said the bullish momentum was led by index heavy oil stocks.



“Pakistan Oilfields (POL), Pakistan Petroleum (PPL) and Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC) increased 2.9-3.8% led by uptick in international oil prices.

“Stocks in the cement sector continued to attract investor attention in expectation of improved local dispatches going forward. Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) increased 1.8% and D.G. Khan Cement (DGKC) was 1.3% up.

“Kohat Cement (KOHC) increased 4.9% on the back of its 2QFY16 earnings announcement,” the report said.

Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Saeed Ahmed Khan said volatility prevailed in the market on Thursday as the index juggled between +146 and -49 points.

“The positivity towards the end came from the exploration and gas sector. International crude oil prices continued to gain to trade above the$33.50/barrel, PSO (+2.26%) PPL (+3.34%) and POL (+2.96%) were the top performers of the aforementioned sector.

“General Tyre and Rubber Co (GTYR) (+0.58%) announced its 1HFY16 result on Thursday with Earnings per Share clocking in at Rs7.25/share, better than markets expectation of Rs6.88/share, said Khan.

“Net sales of GTYR declined by 9% year-on-year in 2QFY16 but massive decline in input prices (natural & synthetic rubber) more than compensated for the decline in sales.”

Trade volumes fell to 85 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 119 million shares.

Shares of 324 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 152 stocks closed higher, 153 declined while 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6 billion.



Descon Chemical was the volume leader with 4.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.09 to finish at Rs6.94. It was followed by TGR Pakistan with 3.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs28.06 and MLCF with 3.4 million shares, gaining Rs1.48 to close at Rs83.07.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs213 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th,  2016.

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