Benchmark
KSE-100 index
rises 73.73 points.
KARACHI: Despite the crude price fall a day ago, the Pakistan bourse ended in the black on Friday.
Select stock valuations propped up after news of their inclusion in the MSCI Frontier Market Index, while Mughal Steel touched its upper price limit over a contract for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index rose 0.20% or 73.73 points to end at 36,122.49.
According to JS Global analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan, volatility prevailed in the market on the last day of week amid increased political noise as the index kept juggling between +72 and -97 points.
“Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (+5%) and Honda Atlas Cars (+1.25%) rallied after news circulated that they were included in the MSCI Frontier Market small-cap index in the latest MSCI semi-annual review.
“After seven bull-dominated sessions, profit-taking from yesterday (Thursday) continued across the board.”
A rally in Byco (+0.56%) continued on the back of news that the board of directors had approved amalgamation of Byco Oil Pakistan and Byco Terminals Pakistan with and into the holding company Byco Petroleum Pakistan.
“Marginal correction continued in the stocks expected to form part of the MSCI Emerging Market Index as Habib Bank (-0.19%), PSO (-0.50%), Oil and Gas Development Company (-0.49%) and MCB Bank (-0.10%) closed in the red zone. Moving forward, we remain positive on the market and expect the bullish momentum to return once the political noise settles down.”
Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza said stocks opened sideways and index-heavy exploration and production sector dragged the benchmark index in early trade following overnight dip in global crude prices. However, as the day progressed, the wider market struggled to find a clear direction amid selective participation from institutions ahead of the weekend.
“Mughal Steel (+5%) hit the upper price limit after the company notified the exchange of being awarded an infrastructure development contract under the CPEC programme.
“Overall, volumes on the KSE-100 index were focused on small and mid-cap plays. We expect investors to closely track flows and global crude going forward while volatility will likely increase as market attempts to revisit its recent highs.”
Trade volumes rose to 313 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 304 million.
Shares of 365 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 213 stocks closed higher, 131 declined while 21 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.7 billion.
Dewan Cement was the volume leader with 28.1 million shares gaining Rs0.34 to finish at Rs16.57. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 25.3 million shares gaining Rs0.79 to close at Rs38.38 and Pace (Pak) Limited with 24.8 million shares gaining Rs0.14 to close at Rs7.14.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs29 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2016.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ