Market watch: KSE-100 rises nearly 200 points due to investor optimism

Benchmark index increases 0.58% to settle at 34,281.09

KARACHI: The stock market revered its trend on Wednesday and the KSE-100 index gained 198 points in a volatile session. Investor optimism on the external front resulted in the uptrend.

Stocks surged in early hours of the day as news emerged that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) would keep Pakistan in the grey list for the next four months. However, no official statement was issued by the FATF.

The bourse inched closer to the 34,500-point mark following a spike in initial trading. However, uncertainty emerged later during which the index saw multiple rises and falls but still remained in the positive zone.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 197.56 points, or 0.58%, to settle at 34,281.09.

JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said equities closed on a positive note with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 198 points and closing at 34,281, up 0.6%.

"Mixed sentiment was seen in the exploration and production sector where Pakistan Oilfields (-1%) remained in the red whereas Oil and Gas Development Company (+1.5%) and Pakistan Petroleum (+2.4%) closed in the green zone," he said.

In the financial sector, UBL (-0.9%) lost ground whereas HBL (+0.6%) and MCB Bank (+0.4%) made gains.

Engro (+1%) and Fauji Fertiliser (+1%) in the fertiliser sector remained positive.

Average traded value stood at $31 million, lower by 7% and volumes came in at 151 million shares, down 3%. Major contribution to the total market volume came from K-Electric (0%), WorldCall Telecom (+4.7%), Unity Foods (-1%) and Lotte Chemical (+1.4%).

"Moving ahead, we expect the market to remain choppy until further clarity emerges on the FATF front," the analyst said.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market made a positive move on Wednesday with intra-day rise of 351 points and closed the session at +198 points.

"During the session, UBL announced financial results, however, its stock price did not react positively to the results, ending the session a rupee down compared with the previous close," it said.

Stocks of oil and gas exploration and production companies and oil marketing firms generally fared well, with Pakistan Petroleum registering volumes of 2.3 million shares.

The cement sector saw selling pressure, so did the steel sector, but managed to close the session positive.

Technology stocks remained in the limelight with traded volumes of 22.9 million shares, followed by chemical stocks (17.4 million) and power companies (14.1 million).

Among individual stocks, K-Electric registered trading in 11.8 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom (11.8 million) and Unity Foods (9.9 million), the report added.

Overall, trading volumes decreased to 151.4 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 156.4 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.9 billion.

Shares of 387 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 241 stocks closed higher, 121 declined and 25 remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 11.83 million shares, staying unchanged at Rs3.98. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 11.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs1.12 and Unity Foods XD with 10.2 million shares, losing Rs0.11 to close at Rs10.8.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs286.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.