Market watch: KSE-100 climbs 588 points, crosses 43,000

Benchmark index rises 1.38% for 13th successive positive finish

KARACHI: Stocks witnessed another bullish run on Monday, as the KSE-100 Index rose 588.13 points or 1.38% to surpass the 43,000 barrier to close positive for the 13^th successive trading session.

The index shot up from the word go, with investors continuing to remain bullish in stocks across the board. KSE-100 surged 730 points at one point to hit a high of 43,256.57, before profit-taking trimmed some of the intra-day gains.

At close on Monday, the KSE-100 Index ended with an increase of 588.13 points or 1.38% to finish at 43,112.12.

Elixir Securities' analyst Ali Raza said Pakistan equities continued the winning streak after another strong run on Monday.

"The market opened on a strong note and built on gains as the day progressed aided by strong institutional flows," Raza commented.

Initial gains were led by listed gas utilities, Sui Northern Gas Company (SNGP PA +5%) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC PA +5%), as investors cheered news of third LNG pipeline approval by the government.



Crescent Steel (CSAP PA +5%) that enjoys monopoly in making steel pipes used for gas and oil transmission also rallied on the aforementioned development. Fertilisers were under the limelight on expected new fertiliser policy that will benefit the industry; Fauji Fertilizers (FFC PA +5%) and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim (FFBL PA +5%) closed on the upper limit.

Financials closed higher with index heavy Habib Bank (HBL PA +3.3%) and United Bank (UBL PA +2.2%) leading gains on heavy buying interest. Cements, however, witnessed profit-taking with Fauji Cement (FCCL PA -2.2%) landing itself among major laggards.

"[We] see stock-wise consolidation at current levels, however, compelling valuations and fresh liquidity is expected to support bullish momentum in the near future," the analyst added.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said bulls dominated in Monday's trading session, ignoring the geo-political noise.

"The index has recovered 13% from the bottom levels of December 2017, after a massive plunge in the local bourse post political and economic uncertainties," said Mulla.

Banking sector extended its previous week rally where big banks boosted the index by 163 points. UBL (+2.18%), HBL (+3.34%) and MCB (+1.09%) were the major movers of the aforementioned sector.



Investor interest was witnessed in the fertiliser sector on the back of news that the agriculture department is launching a direct subsidy on fertilisers, replacing the earlier system. FFC (+5%) and FFBL (+5%), from the aforementioned sector, closed at their respective upper circuits.

Steel sector continued to perform as ISL (+2.91%), ASL (+4.97%) and MUGHAL (+5%) gained to close in the green zone. From the E&P sector, POL (+0.49%) and OGDC (+0.97%) closed slightly positive.

"Moving forward, local political situation and US policy could play negatively, however, strong fundamental news in different sectors should not be ignored. We maintain our stance of buy on dips in the oil, cement, steel and banking sector," the analyst added.

Overall, trading volume increased to 270 million shares, compared with Friday's tally of 260.9 million.

Shares of 394 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 295 stocks closed higher, 78 declined while 21 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.5 billion.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 35.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.21 to close at Rs3.17. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 15.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.91 to close at Rs15.36 and Aisha Steel Mills with 12.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.94 to close at Rs19.84.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs1.2 billion during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.