Market watch: Stocks advance on hopes of successful PM visit to China

Benchmark index rises 291.78 points to settle at 36,796.03

KARACHI: The bullish rally continued at the stock market for the second successive day on Thursday despite a slight technical glitch during the trading session.

The KSE-100 index shot up from the moment trading began as investor sentiments turned positive after Prime Minister Imran Khan left for a four-day visit to China to address the Belt and Road Forum.

PM Imran is scheduled to hold key meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, which may streamline bailout negotiations.

The benchmark index soared nearly 440 points in intra-day trading before retreating, but late buying prevented the market from going into the red zone and it finished trading on a positive note.

At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 291.78 points, or 0.80%, to settle at 36,796.03.

Topline Securities, in its report, stated following a monthly fall of around 5.5% till April 24, the index recovered 0.8% as a tax amnesty scheme was likely to be presented to the cabinet next week.

“Furthermore, likely meeting between PM Imran with the IMF chief in China and expected arrival of an IMF mission in Pakistan in late April also restored investors’ confidence in winning a bailout package,” it said.

Lotte Chemical continued to attract investors’ attention and closed positive with a rise of 2.6% amidst increase in its PTA-PX margins to over $200, which was likely to bode well for the company’s profitability.

The banking index rose 351 points (or 2.6%) as a higher interest rate had actually started materialising as evident from improved profitability of banks. UBL, HBL and MCB Bank cumulatively added 119 points to the benchmark index.

Overall, trading volumes decreased to 106.8 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 116 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.2 billion.

Shares of 338 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 207 stocks closed higher, 108 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

The Bank of Punjab XD was the volume leader with 11.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.54 to close at Rs12.55. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 7.4 million shares, losing Rs0.02 to close at Rs1.02 and Lotte Chemical with 6.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.53 to close at Rs17.01.