Benchmark KSE-100 index gains 121.49 points.
KARACHI: The benchmark-100 index took an upbeat turn on the back of positive results from several refineries and managed to continue a bull run till the end of the session.
Refineries, fertiliser and select financials pulled the index into the black after the fall in global crude prices put investors at bay. However, the support came quick as the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 index gained 0.36% or 121.49 points to end at 33,767.59.
Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza said Pakistan equities inched upwards to near 33,800.
“Stocks opened lower with notable oil names pulling the benchmark KSE-100 index into the red following overnight losses in global crude,” said Raza. “However, fertilisers, refineries and select financials supported the market during the day and KSE-100 index closed in green.
“Pakistan Oilfields (POL, +3%) bucked the oil sector’s bearish trend and added to previous day’s gains over higher-than-consensus earnings, while better results also kept National Refinery (NRL ,+5% )and Attock Refinery (ATRL,+5%) in the limelight as they both closed at their upper price limits.
“In an anticipation of a good result, Pakistan Refinery (PRL, +5%) also hit upper price limit near day’s end.”
JS Global analyst Arham Ghous said positivity prevailed in the market after a few days of volatile trading.
“Investor interest was seen in the refinery sector as ATRL, NRL and PRL gained to close on their respective upper circuits,” said Ghous.
“Bank Al Habib Limited (0.69%) gained on the back of its result announcement in which the company declared its first quarter earnings of Rs2.28/share versus market expectation of Rs1.86/share.”
Better than expected result for the bank can be attributed to reversal of provisioning expenses by the company of around Rs1.18 billion, said Ghous.
“Pakistani Telecommuni-cations Limited (2.68%) gained as the telecom service provider posted its first quarter earnings of Rs0.61/share versus Rs.0.49/share for the same period last year.”
Trade volumes rose to 188 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 187 million shares.
Shares of 335 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 205 stocks closed higher, 114 declined while 16 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.2 billion.
TRG Pakistan Limited was the volume leader with 33.3 million shares, losing Rs0.67 to finish at Rs33.74. It was followed by Byco Petroleum with 15.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.42 to close at Rs20.20 and Jahangir Siddiqui and Company Limited with 15 million shares, losing Rs0.26 to close at Rs23.14.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs519 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2016.
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