The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its upward march on Tuesday owing to the start of corporate result season and the benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 200 points.
An uptick in international crude oil prices turned the local oil stocks attractive and as a result they received modest investment.
Cement and fertiliser sectors were in the limelight in anticipation of increase in cement prices and a hike in fertiliser rates as market participants took fresh positions.
Earlier, trading at the bourse kicked off with a spike and KSE-100 remained on the uptrend for most part of the day. A few dips, witnessed during the session, were corrected aptly. However, a selling spree towards the end eroded some of the gains.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 199.74 points, or 0.43%, to settle at 46,287.38 points.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market continued to enjoy a buoyant mood with an increase of 310 points during the session. It ended up by 200 points.
The cement sector performed well on the back of expectation of increase in cement prices per bag.
Similarly, exploration and production and oil and gas marketing companies fared well due to an uptick in international crude prices as well as pending revision of oil marketing firms’ dealer margins, which was expected to be considered in Wednesday’s meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
The fertiliser sector also gained ground due to a recent hike in di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) prices. Tech stocks continued their rally, which helped the index post consistent gains, the report said.
JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said the bullish trend continued as the KSE-100 remained positive the entire day, touching a high of +310 points and closing up by 200 points at 46,287.
Total traded volume increased 28% compared to the previous day, standing at 603 million shares.
Major contribution came from JS Bank (-3.3%), TRG Pakistan (+3%), Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim (-3.1%), Hascol Petroleum (+4.6%) and Unity Foods (+0.4%), which together contributed 200 million shares to the total volume.
The technology sector outperformed as TRG Pakistan (+3%), Avanceon (+2.6%) and NetSol (+7.5%) remained in the positive region. NetSol closed at its upper limit.
On the other hand, activity was witnessed in refineries among which Attock Refinery (+0.7%), Byco (+3%), National Refinery (+0.8%) and Pakistan Refinery (+0.9%) closed in the green.
The banking sector contributed 10% to the total traded volume where JS Bank (-3.3%), Silkbank (-1.6%), Bank Alfalah (-1.5%), The Bank of Punjab (+1.2%) and UBL (-0.7%) were the major movers.
“As the trend continues, we recommend investors to avail themselves of any upside as an opportunity to sell stocks,” the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes soared to 603.2 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 470.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs26.8 billion.
Shares of 413 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 199 stocks closed higher, 203 declined and 11 remained unchanged.
JS Bank was the volume leader with 65.3 million shares, losing Rs0.25 to close at Rs7.26. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 36.2 million shares, gaining Rs3.46 to close at Rs118.39 and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim with 36 million shares, losing Rs0.9 to close at Rs27.88.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs355.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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