Market watch: Stocks extend bullish streak on investor optimism
Benchmark index rises 334.6 points to settle at 37,130.63
Benchmark index rises 334.6 points to settle at 37,130.63. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
The KSE-100 index extended its bullish streak on Friday and closed with a gain of 335 points on investor optimism about early conclusion of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan deal and major positive developments during ongoing Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to China.
Likely approval of the proposed tax amnesty scheme, foreign inflows and higher global crude oil prices also played the role of catalysts in the bullish close of the market.
The cement sector performed well following news of settlement of sales quota amongst cement manufacturers in upcoming meeting on Monday. A host of corporate result announcements also helped prop up the index.
Earlier, trading started on a positive note and the index shot up, but profit-booking partially erased gains later in the first session, which ended up 156 points. The second session also started with the same optimism and the index advanced to close above 37,100 points.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 334.6 points, or 0.91%, to settle at 37,130.63.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said bears were defeated in Friday's trading session despite tensions in the political environment as the market made a major recovery.
"The market opened positive and touched a high of +362 points as institutional participation was witnessed mainly in blue-chip stocks," he added. "It remained positive throughout the day and closed at 37,131."
Positive sentiments could be attributed to attractive valuations of the KSE-100 index stocks.
Overall trading volumes stood at 144 million shares while the traded value stood at $37 million.
Buying was largely driven by value-hunters with cement heavyweights Lucky Cement (+5%), DG Khan Cement (+5%), Cherat Cement (+5%) and Maple Leaf Cement (+5%) leading the charts by contributing 79 points to the index's rise.
Engro (+0.1%) declared its 1QCY19 result where the company posted earnings per share (EPS) of Rs7.66 and declared cash payout of Rs7 per share.
Bank Alfalah (+0.5%) from the banking sector declared its 1QCY19 result where the bank posted EPS of Rs1.79.
From the cement sector, Lucky Cement (+5%) and Pioneer Cement (+5%) announced their results for 9MFY19 where they posted EPS of Rs25.65 and Rs3.63 respectively.
Moreover, OGDC (+0.8%) from the exploration and production sector declared its 9MFY19 result where the company posted EPS of Rs19.84 and declared cash payout of Rs2.75 per share.
"Moving forward, we expect the market to remain volatile and recommend investors to stay cautious in the short run ahead of IMF meetings," the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes increased to 143.9 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 106.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.2 billion.
Shares of 342 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 239 stocks closed higher, 83 declined and 20 remained unchanged.
The Bank of Punjab XD was the volume leader with 19.95 million shares, gaining Rs0.16 to close at Rs12.71. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 9.1 million shares, gaining Rs1.05 to close at Rs22.16 and Unity Foods with 7.5 million shares, gaining Re1 to close at Rs12.5.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs129.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
The KSE-100 index extended its bullish streak on Friday and closed with a gain of 335 points on investor optimism about early conclusion of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan deal and major positive developments during ongoing Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to China.
Likely approval of the proposed tax amnesty scheme, foreign inflows and higher global crude oil prices also played the role of catalysts in the bullish close of the market.
The cement sector performed well following news of settlement of sales quota amongst cement manufacturers in upcoming meeting on Monday. A host of corporate result announcements also helped prop up the index.
Earlier, trading started on a positive note and the index shot up, but profit-booking partially erased gains later in the first session, which ended up 156 points. The second session also started with the same optimism and the index advanced to close above 37,100 points.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 334.6 points, or 0.91%, to settle at 37,130.63.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said bears were defeated in Friday's trading session despite tensions in the political environment as the market made a major recovery.
"The market opened positive and touched a high of +362 points as institutional participation was witnessed mainly in blue-chip stocks," he added. "It remained positive throughout the day and closed at 37,131."
Positive sentiments could be attributed to attractive valuations of the KSE-100 index stocks.
Overall trading volumes stood at 144 million shares while the traded value stood at $37 million.
Buying was largely driven by value-hunters with cement heavyweights Lucky Cement (+5%), DG Khan Cement (+5%), Cherat Cement (+5%) and Maple Leaf Cement (+5%) leading the charts by contributing 79 points to the index's rise.
Engro (+0.1%) declared its 1QCY19 result where the company posted earnings per share (EPS) of Rs7.66 and declared cash payout of Rs7 per share.
Bank Alfalah (+0.5%) from the banking sector declared its 1QCY19 result where the bank posted EPS of Rs1.79.
From the cement sector, Lucky Cement (+5%) and Pioneer Cement (+5%) announced their results for 9MFY19 where they posted EPS of Rs25.65 and Rs3.63 respectively.
Moreover, OGDC (+0.8%) from the exploration and production sector declared its 9MFY19 result where the company posted EPS of Rs19.84 and declared cash payout of Rs2.75 per share.
"Moving forward, we expect the market to remain volatile and recommend investors to stay cautious in the short run ahead of IMF meetings," the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes increased to 143.9 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 106.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.2 billion.
Shares of 342 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 239 stocks closed higher, 83 declined and 20 remained unchanged.
The Bank of Punjab XD was the volume leader with 19.95 million shares, gaining Rs0.16 to close at Rs12.71. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 9.1 million shares, gaining Rs1.05 to close at Rs22.16 and Unity Foods with 7.5 million shares, gaining Re1 to close at Rs12.5.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs129.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.