Benchmark KSE 100-share Index rises 52.27 points.
At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a rise of 0.13% or 52.27 points to end at 41,464.31.
According to an analyst of Elixir Securities, equities closed marginally positive ahead of the weekend after late buying in select blue chips and sideboard names helped wipe off morning losses.
“The day started off on a negative note with notable sectors namely cement, financial and exploration and production struggling to find a clear direction and were dragged down on thin volumes,” the analyst said.
“Most interest in the morning session was seen in small and mid-cap plays that traded volatile on retail-driven activity while interest in index names remained very thin.”
However, the KSE-100 index recovered and closed in the green, led by both late institutional value-buying in select index names including Oil and Gas Development Company (+1.58%), MCB Bank (+1.41%) and Engro Corp (+0.64%) and retail-driven speculative buying in sideboards.
“Expect volatile trading pattern to continue next week as domestic politics keeps investors on the lookout while upcoming quarterly earnings season will likely re-ignite investor interest in fundamentally strong liquid names,” the analyst said.
Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan said volatility prevailed as the index juggled between -242 points and +100 points.
“The automobile sector remained largely depressed throughout the day on the back of disappointing industry sales numbers for September 2016, with the exception of Atlas Honda (+4.51%) that traded near its upper circuit on speculation that the company’s new production line would become functional this month.”
Top index-movers of the auto sector were Indus Motor (-1.80%) and Honda Atlas Cars (-2.63%).
“Pressure on the cement sector was witnessed on the back of surging global coal prices, where DG Khan Cement (-0.98%) and Lucky Cement (-0.31%) were the top index-movers,” Khan said.
Marginal rally was witnessed in the oil sector as global crude prices continued a positive trajectory on speculation that Russia and OPEC members would agree on an output cut. OGDC and Shell (+5%) were the biggest index-movers of the sector.
“Overall, the positive sentiment in the market remains intact and further upside from these levels is expected,” Khan said.
Trade volumes fell to 408 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 441 million.
Shares of 444 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 188 stocks closed higher, 237 declined while 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.8 billion.
The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 34.7 million shares, losing Rs0.30 to finish at Rs16.98. It was followed by Bank Alfalah with 30.4 million shares, gaining Rs1.05 to close at Rs30.30 and TRG Pakistan with 29.2 million shares, gaining Rs1.91 to close at Rs47.13.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs413 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2016.
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