Market watch: KSE-100 continues to rise, aided by support fund

Benchmark index gains 15.36 points to settle at 35,974.79

KARACHI: After a phenomenal rally in the preceding session, the stock market continued to gain ground on Thursday as euphoria over the creation of a market support fund provided vital support.

The KSE-100 index surged over 500 points in the first hour of trading but selling pressure dragged the index lower. Rumours about delay in approval of the fund pushed the index down but approval of the fund by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) helped the index make a decent recovery.

Profit-taking was also noted as some investors opted to stay on the sidelines ahead of long Eid holidays.

At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 15.36 points, or 0.04%, to settle at 35,974.79.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the KSE-100 index started on a positive note as the index hit an intra-day high of 577 points and lost ground soon afterwards on profit-taking, hitting an intra-day low of 304 points.

"On the news front, the ECC approved the proposed Rs20-billion stock market support fund in a bid to boost investor sentiments," Mulla said.

Investors opted to book profit in the cement sector where major players lost ground. Fauji Cement (-4.1%), Cherat Cement (-3.9%), Pioneer Cement (-3.1%), DG Khan Cement (-2.8%) and Maple Leaf Cement (-0.6%) were the major movers of the sector.

The banking sector remained mixed where Faysal Bank (+2.9%), UBL (+1.3%) and NBP (+3.1%) moved up and on the flipside ABL (-0.6%), MCB Bank (-0.1%) and HBL (-0.7%) remained in the red zone.

"Moving forward, we except the market to remain volatile due to Eid holidays and budget announcement; we recommend investors to book profit on strength," the analyst said.

Overall, trading volumes increased to 199.1 million shares compared with Wednesday's tally of 182.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.9 billion.

Shares of 325 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 119 stocks closed higher, 184 declined and 22 remained unchanged.

The Bank of Punjab XD was the volume leader with 25.4 million shares, losing Rs0.04 to close at Rs11.17. It was followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 14.2 million shares, losing Rs0.14 to close at Rs23.94 and Unity Foods with 12.7 million shares, losing Rs0.44 to close at Rs11.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs190.1 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.