Banks, oil stocks lead the way as KSE-100 ends positive

Benchmark index increases 379.54 points, closes at 46,711.85

KARACHI: Index-heavy stocks led the gains as the stock market opened on a positive note after Eid holidays, with the KSE-100 ending over 46,700 points on Thursday.

Banking and oil shares helped the benchmark-100 share index march upwards, but the wider market remained in the negative amid low volumes.

At close of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index finished with a rise of 379.54 points or 0.82% to close at 46,711.85.



Elixir Securities, in its report, stated equities maintained their winning streak after the long Eid holidays albeit in volatile trading with benchmark KSE-100 Index settling above 46,700 level, up 0.8%.



“Market witnessed a choppy session in early trading on listless volumes where the Index also entered in the red zone for a brief period. Thereafter, institutional value-buying in major sectors across financials, cements and oils led Index to make an intra-day high above 47,000 level followed by mild profit-taking as the day progressed,” said the report.

Major contribution to gains came from Habib Bank (HBL PA +5%), United Bank (UBL PA +4.1%), Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC PA +3.8%), Dawood Hercules (DAWH PA +5%), Pakistan Petroleum (PPL PA +2.5%), Lucky Cement (LUCK PA +1.5%) and MCB Bank (MCB PA +1.9%).

Activity as expected was most focused in small and mid-cap plays where stocks to the likes of TRG Pakistan (TRG PA -4.9%), Bank of Punjab (BOP +2.5%) and K-Electric (KEL PA -2.1%) dominated the volumes chart on retail churning.

“[We] see flows continuing to guide the broader market direction while illiquid sideboard plays are expected to see unusual moves Friday ahead of fiscal year end close on likely window dressing.”

JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said the market witnessed a volatile session with thin volumes of 187 million shares.

The market initially opened in the green zone but soon shed points to touch intraday low of -217 points mainly on account of ongoing futures contract rollover.

During the middle hours of the trading session, market touched a high of +754pts as foreign investors barged in to scoop up value but overall weakness prevailed towards the end of the day and index finally settled to close 380 points above the opening level.



“Despite negativity in many sectors, market closed positive as many heavyweight commercial banks such as HBL (+5.0%) and UBL (+4.1%) closed near upper circuit,” said Ghous.

“Oil stocks including OGDC (+3.8%), POL (+0.21%) and PPL (+2.5%) cumulatively contributed 106 points to the KSE-100 index mainly in response to recovery in international oil prices.

“ASTL (-4.5%) shed points after announcement by the company to shut down its re-rolling plant for 15 days for maintenance purposes,” the analyst commented.

TRG (-4.9%) in the technology sector was the most traded stock and closed near its lower circuit due to negative investor sentiment.

Key triggers providing catalyst for market performance in the near term could be upcoming results season and clarity on JIT investigations.

“However, we recommend investors to hold their positions and reduce short-term holdings on strength until clarity on political front emerges.” Overall, trading volumes fell to 187 million shares compared with previous Thursday’s tally of 294 million.

Shares of 356 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 120 stocks closed higher and 216 declined while 20 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.6 billion.



TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 14.7 million shares, losing Rs2.06 to close at Rs40.01. It was followed by Bank of Punjab (R) with 11 million shares, closing unchanged at Rs0.05 and The Bank of Punjab with 10.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.28 to close at Rs11.33.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs3.7 billion during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2017.

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