Market watch: Bulls toss index above 35,000-point mark

Benchmark index rises 73.20 points to settle at 35,051.38

KARACHI:

Bulls continued to rule the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday as the benchmark index gradually marched upwards and gained over 70 points following rupee’s significant recovery against the dollar.

Furthermore, stability in international crude oil prices and recovery in global markets strengthened investors’ sentiment.

The KSE-100 index started rising from the moment trading began and managed to power past the 35,000-point mark. The market’s advance marked the sixth successive session in the green despite growing political and economic uncertainty.

Some gains were erased after midday, nevertheless, strong investors’ interest helped the index close with modest gains.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 73.20 points, or 0.21%, to settle at 35,051.38 points.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market traded in a narrow range of between -60 points and +127 points, closing the session up by 73 points.

The pharmaceutical sector stood tall with Searl and Ferozsons Laboratories trading at and near their upper circuits. The engineering (steel) sector also recorded price gains, barring Mughal Iron and Steel, which went down.

Meanwhile, the banking sector showed a mixed trend, but buying activity was witnessed in HBL, UBL and Bank Alfalah.

Among fertiliser stocks, Engro Fertilisers recorded a high volume with price gains. Cement, exploration and production and oil marketing companies, on the other hand, endured profit-booking and closed in the red, the report added.

The technology sector topped the volumes with trading in 51.7 million shares, followed by investment banks (14.8 million) and cement companies (13.8 million).

Stocks that contributed positively to the index included Fauji Fertiliser Company (+24 points), Searl (+23 points), TRG Pakistan (+21 points), UBL (+21 points) and Bank Alfalah (+15 points).

Stocks that contributed negatively were Lucky Cement (-16 points), Hubco (-12 points), OGDC (-9 points), MCB (-8 points) and PSO (-7 points).

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the market remained range bound, touching intra-day high and low of +127 and -60 points respectively. It finally closed at 35,051, up 0.2%.

Traded volumes were down by 54% to 176 million shares while traded value decreased by 46% to $40 million.

Profit-booking was witnessed in the cement sector where Lucky Cement (-1.1%), Cherat Cement (-1.1%), DG Khan Cement (-0.5%), Pioneer Cement (-1%) and Maple Leaf Cement (-1.6%) lost ground, he stated.

The pharmaceutical sector continued its upward trend where Ferozsons Laboratories (+6.9%), Searl (+5.3%), GlaxoSmithKline (+2.7%) and AGP Limited (+1.9%) were the major movers.

UBL (+1.8%) and HBL (+0.8%) from the banking sector were in the green zone while on the flipside MCB (-0.6%) and NBP (-1.5%) remained in the red.

“Going forward, we recommend investors to book profit on strength,” the analyst said.

Overall, trading volumes fell to 175.8 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 383.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.7 billion.

Shares of 346 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 155 stocks closed higher, 172 declined and 19 remained unchanged.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 23.3 million shares, gaining Rs2.08 to close at Rs33.24. It was followed by Jahangir Siddiqui and Company with 12.7 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs13.08 and Hum Network with 9.1 million shares, losing Rs0.47 to close at Rs13.84.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs227.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.