Stock exchange. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: Stocks once again bounced back to recover some of the losses of the previous session and closed in the green in another volatile session on Friday.
The KSE-100 index fell over 400 points in the first two hours of trading, however, soon after it started to climb. The positivity continued even after midday break as the index shot up 500 points. It fell slightly before the end of trading, but still remained positive.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 373.13 points or 0.88% at 42,641.75 points.
According to Elixir Securities, Pakistan equities closed higher after volatile trading with gains primarily in the afternoon session helping the benchmark KSE-100 index to close positive above 42,600 points.
"The market started on a bearish note with notable stocks skidding lower on relatively lacklustre activity," stated Elixir.
The index, which dipped 1% intra-day, recorded a recovery near the close of morning session and afterwards sustained uptrend in the afternoon session.
Local institutional investors reportedly became buyers and bought index names with attractive valuations.
Market watch: Profit-taking drags stocks back into negative zone
DG Khan Cement (+3.5%) was among one of the stocks that came under the investor radar as it gained near 7% from its 17-month intra-day low on cherry-picking.
Meanwhile, MCB Bank (+0.1%) closed little changed despite announcing higher-than-expected earnings.
"(We) expect institutional flows to mainly guide index direction during the short next week," the report added.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the KSE-100 continued its bearish momentum during the first half as the index hit an intra-day low of 432 points, but it recovered in the second half.
Lucky Cement (+3.87%), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (+4.78%), Habib Bank (+1.08%) and DG Khan Cement (+3.43%) were major leaders of the day, which cumulatively contributed +161 points.
On the other hand, TRG Pakistan (-4.59%), Pakistan Petroleum (-0.74%), Fauji Fertiliser Company (-0.75%) and Kapco (-1.12%) were major laggards, taking the index down by 44 points.
Commercial bank heavyweight stocks showed mixed sentiments as National Bank (-0.67%) and Allied Bank (-1.45%) closed in the red while Habib Bank (+1.08%), United Bank (+0.43%) and MCB Bank (+0.13%) closed in the green zone.
Market watch: With attractive prices, stocks bounce back
MCB Bank declared its financial results for 1H2017, where the bank reported earnings per share of Rs11.55 and announced dividend per share of Rs4.
"Moving forward, we expect similar volatility unless there is clarity over the political scenario or positive triggers on the economic front. We recommend investors to remain cautious and sell on strength," Mulla added.
Overall, trading volumes fell to 177 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 184.6 million.
Shares of 369 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 240 stocks closed higher, 118 declined while 11 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.4 billion.
TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 24.8 million shares, losing Rs1.83 to close at Rs38.07. It was followed by K-Electric with 15.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.08 to close at Rs6.22 and The Bank of Punjab with 11.2 million shares, losing Rs0.07 to close at Rs9.57.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs24 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
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