Market watch: KSE-100 rises 313 points as investors buy bank stocks

Benchmark index increases 0.77% to settle at 41,112.71

KARACHI: The KSE-100 index on Friday extended gains from the previous session and advanced over 300 points following the announcement of much-awaited monetary policy.

Bulls dominated the stock market, pushing the index above 41,100-point mark.

The benchmark index shot up following the start of trading, but the momentum eased towards the end of first session. Nevertheless, the index managed to accumulate more than 200 points.

In the second session, the market saw a short-lived spike following which investors bought selected stocks, which led to a steady rise in the bourse by the close of trading.

The cement sector remained entirely in the black on the back of strong investor interest.



At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 313.18 points, or 0.77%, to settle at 41,112.71.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said equities closed positive with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 313 points.

"The market started off sideways, hitting a low of just -6 points but soon made gains, touching a high of +408 points," he added. "The index traded positive due to investor interest in banks as the State Bank, in an unexpected move, increased the discount rate by 25 basis points to 10.25%."

Habib Bank (+1.3%), MCB Bank (+0.8%), United Bank (+2.6%) and Bank AL Habib (+4.5%) were in the positive zone.

From the power sector, Engro Powergen Qadirpur (-3.5%) remained in the negative zone as the company announced CY18 earnings per share of Rs8.11 with no cash payout.

Overall, positivity was seen in cement stocks where major names Lucky Cement (+2.5%) and DG Khan Cement (+1.8%) went up.

The traded value came in at $61 million, down 3% whereas volumes stood at 229 million shares, down 4%. Major contribution to the market volumes came from The Bank of Punjab (+2.5%), Dost Steels (+8.7%) and Pak Elektron (+0.4%).

"Going forward, we recommend investors to remain cautious and wait for clarity regarding government talks with the IMF, however, one can reduce short-term positions on strength," the analyst suggested.



Overall, trading volumes decreased to 228.9 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 239.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.5 billion.

Shares of 353 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 222 stocks closed higher, 112 declined and 19 remained unchanged.

The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 33.38 million shares, gaining Rs0.33 to close at Rs13.58. It was followed by Dost Steels with 17.39 million shares, gaining Rs0.54 to close at Rs6.78 and Pak Elektron with 12.49 million shares, gaining Rs0.1 to close at Rs27.75.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs482.6 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.