Market watch: KSE-100 soars past 41,000 in modest rally

Benchmark index gains 653.49 points to settle at 41,031.03

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its upward march for the third successive session as the KSE-100 index gained over 650 points in a modest rally on Thursday.

The three-day bull-run cumulatively added close to 1,400 points to the benchmark index.

Oil sector stocks remained under the limelight in early trading, however, investor excitement died down later after international crude oil prices fell. Still both oil-related sectors managed to close the session entirely in the positive zone.

Investors’ concern over rising Covid-19 cases seemed to have largely subsided after the government announced new measures to curb the second wave of Covid-19 in the country and market participants got much-needed clarity with respect to the economy.

The KSE-100 index spiked over 400 points within the first few minutes after the start of trading and the uptrend continued for the rest of the session. Index-heavy sectors including automobile, cement, fertiliser and chemical attracted modest investment and helped the market rise past 41,000 points.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 653.49 points, or 1.62%, to settle at 41,031.03 points.

In its report, Arif Habib Limited stated that the market followed the momentum shown on Wednesday and added another 750 points during the session. It closed up by 653 points.

The index was again led by exploration and production stocks in the beginning but following the dip in international crude oil prices, such stocks reversed trend.

Cement sector stocks rebounded well with Pioneer Cement and Maple Leaf Cement hitting their upper circuits. After a lull, observed in the past week or so, the cement sector performed well with considerably high volumes.

Banking sector stocks remained range bound and did not show any excitement, be they prices or volumes.

Overall volumes grew further to 388 million shares as compared to below 200 million in the past several sessions, the report said.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the stock exchange continued its recovery trend where the KSE-100 touched intra-day high of +750 points and closed at 41,031 (up 1.6%).

The main reason for the bull-run was the rise in international market, which bounced back on hopes of Covid-19 vaccines. A total of 389 million shares were traded during the day.

Top contributors to the total volume were Unity Foods (+7.1%), TRG Pakistan (+5.6%), Maple Leaf Cement (+7.4%), Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim (+11.4%), Hum Network (-0.2%) and Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (+4.2%) with a total 174 million shares changing hands.

Cement stocks rallied among which Pioneer Cement (+7.5%), Maple Leaf Cement (+7.4%), Lucky Cement (+2%), DG Khan Cement (+4.6%) and Cherat Cement (+6.7%) were the major movers.

In the steel sector, Amreli Steels (+3.6%), Aisha Steel Mills (+1.6%), International Steels (+2.4%) and Agha Steel (+2%) moved higher compared to their previous day’s close.

The textile sector also enjoyed the upward trend where Nishat Mills (+2.4%), Interloop Limited (+2.3%), Gul Ahmed Textile Mills (+2%) and Nishat Chunian (+1.9%) remained in the green territory.

“Moving forward, we expect the market to remain bearish due to political uncertainty and global rise in corona cases. Hence, we recommend investors to sell on strength and avail themselves of any opportunity to buy on dips,” the analyst said.

Overall, trading volumes surged to 389.2 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 241.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs16 billion.

Shares of 405 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 304 stocks closed higher, 74 declined and 27 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods was the volume leader with 50 million shares, gaining Rs1.65 to close at Rs24.84. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 33.3 million shares, gaining Rs3.07 to close at Rs58.25 and Maple Leaf Cement with 29.6 million shares, gaining Rs2.71 to close at Rs39.56.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs646.2 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.