Market watch: KSE-100 finishes in the green, settles above 48,000

Benchmark index advances 307.12 points

KARACHI: Pakistan equities marched upwards on Tuesday led by oil, cement and banking companies on strong valuation as the benchmark KSE 100-share Index settled above 48,200 points.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark index recorded a rise of 307.12 points or 0.64% at 48,250.07.

Elixir Securities, in its report, stated that the trend was no different from the past few days as the wider market continued to show dull activity and volumes remained shallow. Only 50 million shares changed hands on the KSE-100 index.

"Mixed activity was seen in cement and financial stocks, however, oil shares stood firm as investors tracked gains in global crude," said analyst Ali Raza. "Some excitement was also seen in autos and pharmas where the former came in the limelight on expectations of better sales numbers."



On the leader board, index-heavy Habib Bank (+2.2%) remained the star performer as it alone contributed over one-fourth of the positive points to the KSE-100 index on reported interest from institutional investors.

"[We] see lacklustre trading to continue in the near term as investors trade cautiously amid anxiety over Panama verdict. However, the result season is expected to generate interest and channel fresh liquidity into the market in coming days," Raza said.

"We maintain our positive view and reiterate building positions in value plays with MSCI EM stocks our top picks," he added.

JS Global analyst Nabeel Haroon said the market saw a rebound as the index gained around 307 points.



"E&P sector continued its bullish momentum as it extended its gains by 0.66%," he said. "Support to crude oil price came from the news that Russia intends to start consultations with its oil producers regarding the possibility of extending its output cut deal with OPEC."

Pakistan Oilfields (+3.03%) and Pakistan Petroleum (+0.62%) were major index movers of the exploration and production (E&P) sector.

"Apart from the E&P sector, major contribution to the index came from the banking sector as it gained to close (+0.82%) higher than its previous day's close. HBL (+2.24%) and UBL (+0.45%) were major index movers from the sector," Haroon said.

"Moving forward, we reiterate our cautious stance as volumes continue to stay low amid political uncertainty," he added.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 146 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 130 million.



Shares of 384 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 235 stocks closed higher, 130 declined while 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.6 billion.

Azgard Nine was the volume leader with 14.8 million shares, losing Rs0.21 to close at Rs12.84. It was followed by Dewan Cement with 14.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.98 to close at Rs22.87 and TRG Pakistan with 12.7 million shares, gaining Rs2.47 to close at Rs52.03.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs313 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.