market watch: Stocks soar, pushed by cement, financial sectors

Benchmark KSE 100-share Index rises 285.52 points

KARACHI: The stock market gained momentum on Thursday on the back of activity in index-heavy shares mainly of cement and financial sectors.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a rise of 285.52 points, or 0.72%, to finish at 39,792.10 points.



Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza said Pakistan equities surged to close positive helped by gains in cement stocks and select index names with slight improvement in the wider market turnover.

“Stocks opened higher from the word go and the benchmark KSE-100 index gained steadily during the day to finish 286 points higher.”

According to Raza, cement shares that had been under pressure recently showed a strong rally as investors cheered reports of higher-than-expected local sales for August.

“Index-heavy Habib Bank (+1.2%) and United Bank (+1.3%) contributed most of the points to the benchmark index on reported foreign buying, followed by gains in DG Khan Cement (+2.3%) and Lucky Cement (+1.1%).”

Sui Southern Gas Company (+5%) hit the upper price limit after the public utility unveiled its aggressive capital expenditure plans to upgrade the transmission and distribution network.

JS Global analyst Nabeel Haroon said positivity prevailed in the market as the index rallied around 285 points to close at 39,792.

“Gains were led by the cement sector on the back of anticipation by investors that there would be a surge in dispatch numbers for August.”

Haroon said the banking sector also saw bullish momentum as the government borrowed Rs215 billion against the target of Rs100 billion in the auction of Pakistan Investment Bonds allaying some reinvestment concerns for banks with maturing portfolios. HBL and UBL were top performers in the banking sector.

SSGC gained to close at its upper circuit as the gas utility decided to spend Rs118.5 billion on improving and upgrading its transmission and distribution network, according to a plan submitted to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority on Wednesday.

Trade volumes rose to 297 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 140 million.



Shares of 414 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 288 stocks closed higher, 108 declined while 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.6 billion.

K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 25.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.14 to finish at Rs8.92. It was followed by Dewan Cement with 18.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.64 to close at Rs18.55 and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines with 13.4 million shares, gaining Rs2.17 to close at Rs45.57.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs337 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2016.

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