Market watch: KSE-100 closes week on positive note

Benchmark index gains 329.41 points to settle at 37,330.85

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the week on a positive note on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining over 300 points.

The index oscillated between red and green zones as certain sectors experienced selling pressure. Investors were concerned over the subdued economic growth and corporate result announcements, which prevented the market from advancing further.

Earlier, trading began on a positive note, however, the bourse failed to sustain the momentum and the first session remained largely range bound. The index still managed to end the session with gains.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 329.41 points, or 0.89%, to settle at 37,330.85 points.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market rose 353 points during the two sessions on Friday and closed the day with an increase of 329 points.

Hascol Petroleum, which posted a loss in its financial result, came under the limelight and its stock ended higher with volumes of 87.2 million shares.

The refinery sector saw National Refinery Limited (NRL) and Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) hit their upper circuits after news of recent disruption in oil supplies and a similar performance was observed in other refinery stocks.

However, banking sector stocks remained muted throughout the day. The steel sector performed well on the back of expectations of an increase in steel prices.

Oil and gas marketing companies posted the highest volumes of 92.9 million shares, courtesy Hascol Petroleum, and were followed by chemical firms (52.9 million) and technology companies (39.2 million).

Stocks that contributed positively to the index included Dawood Hercules (+58 points), Engro (+48 points), Hubco (+42 points), Thal Limited (+20 points) and Pakistan Tobacco (+15 points).

Stocks that contributed negatively were HBL (-14 points), EFU General Insurance (-8 points), PPL (-6 points), Engro Fertilisers (-6 points) and OGDC (-5 points).

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said continuing Thursday’s upward trend, the index gained and touched intra-day high of +353 points before closing at 37,331, up 329 points.

“Traded volumes inched up to 466 million shares while traded value decreased to $94 million,” he stated.

Top volume stocks were Hascol Petroleum (+1.6%), Unity Foods (+6%) and Lotte Chemical (+6.8%) with almost 134 million shares changing hands.

“Hascol Petroleum from the oil marketing companies’ sector declared its CY19 result, where the company posted a loss of Rs129.94 per share with no cash payout,” Mulla said.

Major movers of the day were Dawood Hercules (+6.5%), Engro (+2.3%), Hubco (+2.6%), Engro Polymer and Chemicals (+6.9%) and Indus Motor (+3.2%).

The refinery sector attracted investors’ attention the most where National Refinery (+7.5%), Pakistan Refinery (+8%) and Attock Refinery (+7%) closed in the green.

“Moving forward, we recommend investors to book profit on strength and wait for a dip for fresh buying,” the analyst said.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 466.1 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 402.6 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs15.8 billion.

Shares of 386 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 265 stocks closed higher, 104 declined and 17 remained unchanged.

Hascol Petroleum was the volume leader with 87.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.22 to close at Rs14.08. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 24.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.78 to close at Rs12.20 and Unity Foods with 22.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.71 to close at Rs12.62.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs159.6 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.