Market watch: Stocks break record, rise sharply after policy rate cut

Benchmark KSE-100 index gains 439.94 points.

KARACHI: Picking up following the weekend monetary policy announcement and in line with the expectations of analysts, stocks whizzed past previous records to settle above 34,000 points on Monday.

As the day passed, share prices rose further on the back of heavy institutional buying.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index closed higher 1.29% or 439.94 points at 34,466.53.

Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani said the equities hit record highs as investors cheered the central bank’s decision to lower the benchmark borrowing rate by 100 basis points to a 10-year low at 8.5%.



“Stocks opened up and further gained as the day progressed on aggressive institutional buying, with the exception of oil stocks that tracked tumbling global crude,” said Bilwani.

Engro Corporation (+5%) led the charge and hit its upper price limit. Additionally, its listed subsidiary Engro Foods (+5%) also caught up to touch the ceiling after announcing its earnings that beat estimates.

Bilwani said banks were also gainers despite a rate cut and expectations of further easing as investors expected consumer financing and private sector credit offtake to pick up going forward.

JS Global analyst Ovais Ahsan said the market welcomed the 100bps policy rate cut by the State Bank as the move propelled the index into uncharted territory.

According to him, Fauji Fertilizer (+3.78%) was the biggest index mover as the urea producer continued to rally on anticipation of a strong cash and bonus share payout.



“MCB Bank (+1.2%), which is the largest holder of Pakistan Investment Bonds, rallied as mark-to-market gains will be booked from their available sale portfolio of bonds,” said Ahsan.

The oil and gas sector remained under pressure on the back of depressed international oil prices as Pakistan Oil Fields (-2.78%), which has the highest proportion of oil in its revenue mix, continued to underperform.

Trade volumes rose to 362 million shares compared to 227 million on Friday.

Shares of 396 companies were traded. Of these, 140 declined, 235 closed higher and 21 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs20.6 billion.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 36.4 million shares, losing Rs0.16 to close at Rs8.98. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 22.3 million shares, gaining Rs2.01 to close at Rs50.75 and Jahangir Siddiqui and Company with 14.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.37 to close at Rs18.23.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs781 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th,  2015.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.