Market watch: KSE-100 continues upward ride, crosses 52,000 points

Benchmark index increases 773.46 points to end at 52,146.97

KARACHI: The KSE 100-share Index continued to gain momentum on Tuesday as index-heavy stocks pushed the benchmark well above 52,000 points with a rise of almost 870 points in intra-day trading.

Investors remained active as they awaited the reclassification of Pakistan's bourse to the MSCI Emerging Markets index on June 1.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index showed a rise of 773.46 points or 1.51% to end at 52,146.97.

According to Elixir Securities, Pakistan equities continued their winning streak and settled above 52,100 points.

"The market opened positive and gained steadily from the word go as index names, particularly MSCI EM constituents, carried the momentum and pushed the KSE-100 index above 52,000. Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC, +5%), MCB Bank (+4%), Habib Bank (+1.4%) and United Bank (+2.2%) contributed the most to the day's gains," said analyst Ali Raza.



"Most activity, however, was focused on small and mid-caps as a paltry 110 million shares changed hands on the KSE-100 index."

Sazgar Engineering Works (+5%) hit its upper price limit after the company notified investors of signing an MoU with a foreign automobile manufacturer for their planned four-wheeler and light commercial vehicle business.

"We expect the MSCI upgrade-related excitement to continue in index names, however, volatility will likely be higher as the MSCI transition and federal budget come closer," he added.

JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said the market continued to advance on the back of bullish momentum with strong upward movement in most MSCI Emerging Markets stocks.



"Banking sector led the gains as the sector closed 1.71% higher than its previous day's close. Major index movers of the sector were MCB Bank, UBL and HBL," said Ghous.

"A major constituent of the KSE-100 index, OGDC in the exploration and production sector, gained to close at its upper circuit, contributing +112 points to the overall index. On the back of noise in the market regarding imposition of anti-dumping duty on chemical imports, Lotte Chemical led market volumes, closing at its upper circuit."

The fertiliser sector recorded gains with Dawood Hercules (+5%) hitting its upper circuit while Engro (+2.12%) also made substantial contribution to the index.



"Moving forward, it is recommended that investors accumulate value stocks from the MSCI EM index on dips," the analyst added.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 324 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 240 million.

Shares of 417 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 273 stocks closed higher and 132 declined while 12 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs19.6 billion.

Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 40.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.96 to close at Rs12.64. It was followed by TRG Pakistan Limited with 12.7 million shares, gaining Rs1.02 to close at Rs54.91 and Chakwal Spinning with 11.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.96 to close at Rs7.21.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs1.99 billion during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.