Market watch: Bourse breaks negative streak, closes in the black

Benchmark KSE 100-share Index rises 371.61 points

KARACHI: Pakistan equities snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday and closed higher on aggressive institutional buying, primarily in industrial, consumer and sideboard stocks including autos.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a rise of 0.76% or 371.61 points to end at 49,013.82.

Elixir Securities, in its report, stated that after a positive open, the market traded sideways for some time with oil stocks being dragged down as investors tracked overnight losses in global crude.

“Oil and Gas Development Company (-2.8%) added to yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) losses with rumours of government divestment continuing to dent sentiments,” said analyst Ali Raza.



“Market, however, quickly recovered and gained steadily afterwards as local institutions … realigned portfolios.”

Textile stocks gained as official announcement of the textile policy by the finance minister reignited interest, while news about imposition of duty on Indian cotton yarn brought stocks back in the limelight after recent profit-taking.

“Steels garnered attention on news of imposition of anti-dumping duty on Chinese imports by the government, pushing most of the names to their daily upper limits,” Raza said.

Moreover, cement stocks added to the day’s gains with investors betting on higher-than-expected sales for the ongoing month.

“(We) see market inching up in the days ahead with the benchmark KSE-100 index retesting and possibly surpassing previous highs on the back of steady domestic liquidity and buying on earnings and payout-related excitement,” he added.



Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Nabeel Haroon said positivity prevailed in the market as the index gained around 372 points to close at 49,014.

“International Industries, International Steels and Aisha Steel Mills in the steel sector gained to close at their respective upper circuits on the back of news that NTC (National Tariff Commission) has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on dumped imports of cold-rolled coils/sheets in the range of 13-19%,” said Haroon.

“Power Cement (+5.22%) in the cement sector gained on the back of announcement that the company intends to increase production capacity up to 3.37 million tons annually by the start of CY19 with fresh investment of around Rs25 billion,” he said.

Overall, investor interest was seen in the cement sector as it gained to close (+1.3%) higher than its previous day’s close. Cherat Cement (+5%) and DG Khan Cement (+1.27%) were major gainers of the sector.



“Textile sector gained as investors weighed in the impact of textile package on the companies’ bottom lines going forward. Nishat Mills (+5%) and Nishat Chunian (+2.88%) were major gainers of the sector,” the analyst said.

“Today’s (Thursday’s) top index influencers were Lucky Cement (+1.26%), Nishat Mills and Engro (+1.18%). Moving forward, we recommend investors to see any dip in the market as an opportunity to buy,” he added.

Trading volumes rose to 456 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 330 million.



Shares of 421 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 289 stocks closed higher, 116 declined while 16 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs23.3 billion.

The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 32.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.13 to finish at Rs17.91. It was followed by K-Electric Limited with 29.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.03 to close at Rs9.45 and Dost Steels Limited with 22.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.62 to close at Rs14.12.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs771 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.