Market watch: Bulls lift KSE-100 above 40,000 points

Benchmark index gains 283.34 points to settle at 40,166.12

KARACHI:

The positive momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday as bullish investor sentiment supported the KSE-100 index in extending the rally from previous session and it powered past 40,000 points.

Market anticipation of a hike of Rs5-7 in cement bag prices kept stocks in the cement sector in the limelight, helping them to close with modest gains.

The announcement by the Punjab government of additional exemptions from lockdown coupled with permission to industries and the construction sector to operate round the clock was taken positively by market participants and supported the uptrend.

A rise in international crude oil prices, which hovered near five-month highs, turned the exploration and production sector attractive and lent further support to the already bullish market.

The session kicked off with a sharp spike and the index climbed over 500 points in the first hour. However, selling pressure erased most of the gains by midday. A buying spree, emerging right after the midday, lifted the index upwards and took it into the green zone.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 283.34 points, or 0.71%, to settle at 40,166.12 points.

JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said the KSE-100 index closed in the positive zone after touching a high of +540 points. It ended the day at 40,166 (+0.7%).

“The market remained bullish with exploration and production stocks being the major players,” he said. Oil and Gas Development Company (+0.4%), Pakistan Oilfields (+1.7%) and Pakistan Petroleum (+1.1%) in the exploration and production sector gained ground.

Mixed sentiment was seen in the financial sector where NBP (+6.2%) closed near its upper circuit while MCB (+3.9%) and HBL (+0.5%) also remained positive.

Furthermore, TRG Pakistan (+7.4%) and Engro Fertilisers (+1.7%) were also among the major index movers.

Traded value stood at $145 million, up 9% while volumes came in at 827 million shares, up 65%.

“Going forward, we expect the market to remain volatile with intra-day corrections and recommend investors to sell on strength,” the analyst said.

Overall, trading volumes soared to 826.8 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 501.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs24.3 billion.

Shares of 415 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 234 stocks closed higher, 166 declined and 15 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 242.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.42 to close at Rs1.43. It was followed by Power Cement with 45.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.34 to close at Rs10.07 and Maple Leaf Cement with 38.5 million shares, gaining Rs1.07 to close at Rs36.1.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs198.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.