Market watch: KSE-100 touches new peak with handsome gain

Benchmark index rises over 700 points on institutional buying

KARACHI: The KSE 100-share Index touched a new all-time high on Wednesday following an upsurge triggered by institutional buying and higher global crude oil prices.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a rise of 729.49 points or 1.4% to end at 52,876.46.

According to a report of Elixir Securities, the equities market hit a fresh peak, supported by institutional buying ahead of the MSCI index upgrade for Pakistan's market.

"The market opened gap up with the MSCI Emerging Markets' constituents leading the gains, which pushed the KSE-100 index above 53k in intra-day trading," said analyst Ali Raza.



"The energy sector contributed most of the gains on buying interest from institutional investors as higher global crude prices lifted sentiments. Oil and Gas Development Company (+3.6%) closed higher for the second consecutive session and contributed the most to the day's gains while Pakistan Petroleum (+4.6%) stood next in line, hitting its highest level in the past four months."



Financial stocks also remained in the limelight as notable index names including Habib Bank (+1.2%), United Bank (+1.1%) and MCB Bank (+2.1%) closed with handsome gains.

JS Research analyst Arhum Ghous said the market recorded a bullish momentum throughout the day.



Some of the top performers of the KSE-100 were Mari Petroleum (+1.83%), Millat Tractors (+1.55%) and Thal Limited (+3.17%), he said.

"Oil prices rose in the international market after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other big producers agreed to keep output restricted for the rest of 2017 and in the first quarter of next year as well. Oil and Gas Development Company and Pakistan Petroleum were major contributors from the sector."

A rally was also witnessed in the banking sector as heavyweights United Bank, Habib Bank and MCB Bank cumulatively contributed 115 points to the index.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 607 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 324 million.





Shares of 420 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 188 stocks closed higher and 215 declined while 17 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs23.7 billion.

Power Cement (right shares) was the volume leader with 124.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.6 to close at Rs2.3. It was followed by The Bank of Punjab (right shares) with 90.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.37 to close at Rs1.87 and Lotte Chemical with 36.25 million shares, losing Rs0.68 to close at Rs11.96.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs547 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.