Market watch: Bulls return to bourse, lift KSE-100 by 482 points
Benchmark index increases 1.21% to settle at 40,270.52
Benchmark index increases 1.21% to settle at 40,270.52. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
Following a day's respite, bulls returned to the bourse on Wednesday and lifted it close to the 40,300-point mark.
Inflation reading for November 2019, released during the trading session, failed to have any significant impact on investor sentiment. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 12.67% in November on a year-on-year basis, which was above market consensus and dashed hopes for a cut in interest rate in the next monetary policy.
Stocks in the energy sector outshined amid rising crude oil prices in the international market. Oil prices rallied due to expectations of a further reduction of 400,000 barrels per day in crude supply in the OPEC meeting, scheduled to begin on December 5 in Vienna.
Earlier, trading began on a negative note but positive activity emerged in the early hours, which wiped out the losses and took the index into the positive territory. The rally also helped erase all the losses suffered by the stock market a day ago.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 481.79 points, or 1.21%, to settle at 40,270.52.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market took a dip on Wednesday as well, following Tuesday's slide of more than 400 points, and fell by 129 points during the session.
"The benchmark index, however, came back strongly and went up 518 points," it said. "The market closed at +482 points."
Buying activity was seen in cement, automobile, steel and banking sectors. During the session, CPI numbers were released, which were higher than street consensus but could not dent the buying activity much.
The cement sector led the volumes with trading in 62.8 million shares, followed by chemical companies (41.9 million) and banks (31.8 million).
Among individual stocks, Unity Foods led the table with 26.8 million shares changing hands, followed by Lotte Chemical (17.7 million) and K-Electric (15.9 million), the report added.
JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said equities closed on a positive note with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 482 points.
"On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index surged 12.67% year-on-year, which was slightly higher than market expectations," he said.
Cement, exploration and production and financial sectors lifted the market where Lucky Cement (+2.8%), Oil and Gas Development Company (+0.6%), Pakistan Petroleum (+0.5%), MCB Bank (+1.6%), UBL (+1.7%) and HBL (+0.7%) cumulatively contributed to the positive close.
Traded value stood at $95 million, up 2% and volumes came in at 393 million shares, down 12%. Major contribution to the total market volume came from Unity Foods (+1.4%), Lotte Chemical (+2.8%), K-Electric (-1.5%), Fauji Foods (+6.6%) and Maple Leaf Cement (+5%).
"Moving ahead, we expect the market to remain positive in the coming trading sessions," the analyst added.
Overall, trading volumes decreased to 393.2 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 448.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.8 billion.
Shares of 401 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 294 stocks closed higher, 87 declined and 20 remained unchanged.
Unity Foods was the volume leader with 26.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.18 to close at Rs13.06. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 17.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.42 to close at Rs15.35 and K-Electric with 16 million shares, losing Rs0.07 to close at Rs4.62.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs299.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
Following a day's respite, bulls returned to the bourse on Wednesday and lifted it close to the 40,300-point mark.
Inflation reading for November 2019, released during the trading session, failed to have any significant impact on investor sentiment. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 12.67% in November on a year-on-year basis, which was above market consensus and dashed hopes for a cut in interest rate in the next monetary policy.
Stocks in the energy sector outshined amid rising crude oil prices in the international market. Oil prices rallied due to expectations of a further reduction of 400,000 barrels per day in crude supply in the OPEC meeting, scheduled to begin on December 5 in Vienna.
Earlier, trading began on a negative note but positive activity emerged in the early hours, which wiped out the losses and took the index into the positive territory. The rally also helped erase all the losses suffered by the stock market a day ago.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 481.79 points, or 1.21%, to settle at 40,270.52.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market took a dip on Wednesday as well, following Tuesday's slide of more than 400 points, and fell by 129 points during the session.
"The benchmark index, however, came back strongly and went up 518 points," it said. "The market closed at +482 points."
Buying activity was seen in cement, automobile, steel and banking sectors. During the session, CPI numbers were released, which were higher than street consensus but could not dent the buying activity much.
The cement sector led the volumes with trading in 62.8 million shares, followed by chemical companies (41.9 million) and banks (31.8 million).
Among individual stocks, Unity Foods led the table with 26.8 million shares changing hands, followed by Lotte Chemical (17.7 million) and K-Electric (15.9 million), the report added.
JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said equities closed on a positive note with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 482 points.
"On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index surged 12.67% year-on-year, which was slightly higher than market expectations," he said.
Cement, exploration and production and financial sectors lifted the market where Lucky Cement (+2.8%), Oil and Gas Development Company (+0.6%), Pakistan Petroleum (+0.5%), MCB Bank (+1.6%), UBL (+1.7%) and HBL (+0.7%) cumulatively contributed to the positive close.
Traded value stood at $95 million, up 2% and volumes came in at 393 million shares, down 12%. Major contribution to the total market volume came from Unity Foods (+1.4%), Lotte Chemical (+2.8%), K-Electric (-1.5%), Fauji Foods (+6.6%) and Maple Leaf Cement (+5%).
"Moving ahead, we expect the market to remain positive in the coming trading sessions," the analyst added.
Overall, trading volumes decreased to 393.2 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 448.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.8 billion.
Shares of 401 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 294 stocks closed higher, 87 declined and 20 remained unchanged.
Unity Foods was the volume leader with 26.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.18 to close at Rs13.06. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 17.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.42 to close at Rs15.35 and K-Electric with 16 million shares, losing Rs0.07 to close at Rs4.62.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs299.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.