Market watch: KSE-100 gains 457 points, ends seventh successive session in green

Benchmark increases 0.99% to close at 46,560.82

KARACHI: The KSE-100 soared past the 46,500 level as investors cheered the possible announcement of a tax amnesty scheme, with banks leading the charge on institutional interest.

A 457-point gain saw the index close positive for the seventh successive session with the tax amnesty scheme acting as the positive trigger.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index finished with an increase of 457.21 points or 0.99% to settle at 46,560.82.

In the early hours of trading, the KSE-100 moved upwards but selling pressure dragged it down. However, this dull trend did not last long as the index began to move higher and gained 551 points in intra-day trading.



Elixir Securities' analyst Zainul Abedin said equities carried their winning streak.

"The market witnessed lacklustre volumes with an intra-day blip towards 46,085, however, it recovered the lost ground by midday, driven mainly by sharp gains in financials +2.6%; among notables were Habib Bank Limited (HBL PA +4.4%), UBL Bank Limited (UBL PA +2.5%) and MCB bank (MCB PA +1.5%) on reported local institutional interest," said Abedin.

"Gas utilities (+1.8%), energy (+1.1%) and cements (+0.5%) also contributed to the gains, however, steels (-2%) traded choppy on proposal to remove regulatory duties.

"We see the market maintaining its current bullish momentum with the index targeting 47,000 in days ahead," he added.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla echoed the same sentiment.



"After initially trading sideways, the market got back on its feet. Major heavyweights namely HBL (+4.40%), OGDC (+0.11%), PPL (+0.83%), UBL (+2.47%), LUCK (+0.16%), ENGRO (+0.84%) and MCB (+1.51%) cumulatively contributed 260 points," Mulla remarked.

"Investors' confidence once again was seen in the financials and cement sector. From the banking sector, HBL (4.40%), UBL (+2.47%), MCB (+1.51%) and BAFL (+1.00%) closed in the green as a pre-budget rally was seen.

"On the flip side, MLCF (+1.97%), DGKC (+1.42%), LUCK (+0.16%) and FCCL (-0.03%) in the cement sector followed the rally as sales numbers for March 2018 recorded 17.3% year-on-year growth to clock in at 4.652 million tons, with local sales up 13.5% year-on-year and exports up 85% year-on-year.

"Moving forward, we expect overall activity to remain buoyant in the coming sessions with flows from foreigners and local institutions guiding market direction," Mulla added.



Overall, trading volumes decreased to 233 million shares compared with Wednesday tally of 270 million.

Shares of 373 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 185 stocks closed higher, 164 declined while 24 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.7 billion.

Byco Petroleum was the volume leader with 16.6 million shares, losing Rs0.22 to close at Rs15.10. It was followed by Engro Polymer with 15.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.32 to close at Rs36.94 and Lotte Chemical with 9 million shares, gaining Rs0.28 to close at Rs10.86.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs143 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.