Market watch: KSE-100 powers past 41,000 points
Shares of 403 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 234 stocks closed higher. PHOTO: FILE
The ongoing rally at Pakistan bourse continued on Thursday as well on the back of strong investor interest, which helped add 219 points to the KSE-100 index and made it power past 41,000 points.
Cement and fertiliser sectors attracted investor interest while exploration and production, oil marketing and automobile sectors saw considerable sell-off.
Market expectations of a lower inflation reading for August 2020, coupled with finance ministry’s projection of 1% economic growth in the first quarter of FY21, fuelled the bull-run.
The index spiked as soon as trading kicked off, however, most of the gains were wiped off till midday. At that point, buying interest revived among investors and the bourse climbed once again to end the session with modest gains.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 219.35 points, or 0.54%, to settle at 41,081.94 points.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market added another 414 points during the session and closed up by 219 points. “Cement and banking stocks played an important role,” it said.
The Bank of Punjab’s financial results brought its stock price down. The refinery sector faced selling pressure that brought Attock Refinery and National Refinery down after announcement of their financial results on Wednesday.
Exploration and production companies saw selling pressure, however, the trading volume remained the same as in the previous sessions.
The banking sector led the volumes with trading in 78.2 million shares, followed by cement companies (74.6 million) and technology firms (59.8 million), the analyst said.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the benchmark KSE-100 index ended the day higher, after touching a high of +414 points. It finally closed at 41,082, up 219 points.
“The market remained skywards with financial, cement and automobile sectors being major movers at the bourse,” he said.
Traded value stood at $119 million, down 7% and volumes came in at 545 million shares, up 7%. Major contribution to the total market volume came from The Bank of Punjab (-3.9%), TRG Pakistan (+6.2%) and K-Electric (+2.1%).
The Bank of Punjab (-3.9%) from the banking sector declared its 1HCY20 result where the bank posted earnings per share (EPS) of Rs1.37 with no cash payout.
The cement sector gained ground where Cherat Cement (+3.1%), Pioneer Cement (+1.5%), Kohat Cement (+3.3%), Fauji Cement (+1%) and DG Khan Cement (+0.7%) were the major movers.
Investors’ interest was witnessed in the textile sector as well, where Gul Ahmed Textile Mills (+4.8%), Interloop (+5.6%), Kohinoor Textile Mills (+3.6%) and Nishat Chunian (+2.1%) remained in the green territory.
Selling pressure was witnessed in the steel sector, where International Industries (-1.5%), Mughal Iron and Steel (-1.6%), Aisha Steel Mills (-1.5%) and International Steels (-0.3%) were in the red.
“Going forward, we expect the market to trade sideways in the absence of any immediate triggers and the rollover week. We recommend investors to sell on strength,” the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes dropped to 544.7 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 508 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs19.9 billion.
Shares of 403 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 234 stocks closed higher, 153 declined and 16 remained unchanged.
The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 39.7 million shares, losing Rs0.4 to close at Rs9.87. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 36.9 million shares, gaining Rs3.52 to close at Rs60.04 and K-Electric with 28.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.08 to close at Rs3.88.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs375.1 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.