Market watch: Index continues merry northward ride
Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 295.16 points
PHOTO: AFP/FILE
KARACHI:
The benchmark-100 index cruised merrily northwards, ending positive for the eighth successive session as the wider market took cues from global counterparts and actively invested in equities.
The cement sector witnessed profit-taking, but oil and pharmaceutical led the way as major scrips posted gains.
At close on Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KSE-100 index rose 0.92% or 295.16 points to end at 32,441.74
JS Globala analyst Arhum Ghous said positivity prevailed as the index rallied to close in the green zone for the 8th consecutive session, mimicking performance of global equity markets.
“Engro Corp. and Engro Foods (EFOODS) both closed on their upper circuits for the second consecutive session in response to market information disseminated on Thursday.
“On the other hand, some profit taking was observed in the cement sector as DG Khan (-0.37%), Cherat Cement (-0.09%) and Maple Leaf (-0.16%) lost value to close in the red zone.
“Revival of interest in the pharmaceutical sector was also observed where key stocks such as Glaxosmithkline, Highnoon Laboratories, IBL Healthcare and Searle all closed on their upper circuit.
“We recommend investors to remain cautious as some profit taking might be witnessed in the coming week.”
Meanwhile, Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza said equities extended their gains and closed the week on a positive note. “Thursday’s twin stars, ENGRO (+5%) and EFOODS (+5%), maintained their winning start and hit upper price limits from the very outset, while wider market also carried on with momentum and continued to gained ground throughout the day.
“Oils stocks, that traded mixed in the morning session with initial reaction to volatile international crude price, managed to close strong with Oil and Gas Development Comapny (OGDC, +2.29%) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO, +2.59%) bouncing on reported foreign buying.
“Cements and financials witnessed selective profit-taking, however, laggard pharmaceutical staged a strong comeback as most notable names closed at their upper price limits on reports of institutional flows.”
Trade volumes rose to 150 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 140 million.
Shares of 345 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 196 stocks closed higher, 126 declined while 23 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.6 billion.
Jahangir Siddiqi and Company was the volume leader with 18.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.16 to finish at Rs21.33. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 14.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.92 to close at Rs26.34 and NIB Bank with 6.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.18 to close at Rs1.73.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs377 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2016.
The benchmark-100 index cruised merrily northwards, ending positive for the eighth successive session as the wider market took cues from global counterparts and actively invested in equities.
The cement sector witnessed profit-taking, but oil and pharmaceutical led the way as major scrips posted gains.
At close on Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KSE-100 index rose 0.92% or 295.16 points to end at 32,441.74
JS Globala analyst Arhum Ghous said positivity prevailed as the index rallied to close in the green zone for the 8th consecutive session, mimicking performance of global equity markets.
“Engro Corp. and Engro Foods (EFOODS) both closed on their upper circuits for the second consecutive session in response to market information disseminated on Thursday.
“On the other hand, some profit taking was observed in the cement sector as DG Khan (-0.37%), Cherat Cement (-0.09%) and Maple Leaf (-0.16%) lost value to close in the red zone.
“Revival of interest in the pharmaceutical sector was also observed where key stocks such as Glaxosmithkline, Highnoon Laboratories, IBL Healthcare and Searle all closed on their upper circuit.
“We recommend investors to remain cautious as some profit taking might be witnessed in the coming week.”
Meanwhile, Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza said equities extended their gains and closed the week on a positive note. “Thursday’s twin stars, ENGRO (+5%) and EFOODS (+5%), maintained their winning start and hit upper price limits from the very outset, while wider market also carried on with momentum and continued to gained ground throughout the day.
“Oils stocks, that traded mixed in the morning session with initial reaction to volatile international crude price, managed to close strong with Oil and Gas Development Comapny (OGDC, +2.29%) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO, +2.59%) bouncing on reported foreign buying.
“Cements and financials witnessed selective profit-taking, however, laggard pharmaceutical staged a strong comeback as most notable names closed at their upper price limits on reports of institutional flows.”
Trade volumes rose to 150 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 140 million.
Shares of 345 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 196 stocks closed higher, 126 declined while 23 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.6 billion.
Jahangir Siddiqi and Company was the volume leader with 18.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.16 to finish at Rs21.33. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 14.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.92 to close at Rs26.34 and NIB Bank with 6.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.18 to close at Rs1.73.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs377 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2016.