KARACHI:
The stock market once again turned bullish and ended the week on a positive note with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining over 200 points.
In contrast to the previous day, the index opened higher and continued its upward stride for most of the first session, touching intraday high of 46,646.96 points minutes after trading resumed in the second session.
A few dips were, however, witnessed but those were overshadowed by the overall strong investor interest.
A host of encouraging financial results announced during the day kept investors optimistic at the bourse. Bullish momentum was noted in banking, cement and fertiliser sectors.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 219.49 points, or 0.48%, to settle at 46,385.54 points.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, said the market gained another 491 points during the day and closed up by 219 points. Profit-booking in the second half of trading brought the index down, but investor sentiment remained bullish, it said.
The cement sector performed well due to anticipation of better corporate results for the Oct-Dec quarter as well as growth in dispatches.
K-Electric, in the power sector, led the volumes with the hint of resolution of dispute between Sui Southern Gas Company and K-Electric.
Among oil marketing companies (OMCs), PSO led the pack despite a delay in Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) decision on OMC dealer margins.
Expectations about quarterly corporate results largely drove sentiment on Friday, which was the last day of rollover week, the report added.
Sectors contributing to the performance included technology (+67 points), cement (+61 points), power (+32 points), investment banks (+25 points) and pharmaceutical (+25 points).
Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included TRG Pakistan (+75 points), DG Khan Cement (+26 points), Dawood Hercules (+24 points), Pakistan Tobacco Company (+20 points) and International Industries (+20 points).
Stocks that contributed negatively were MCB (-24 points), Fauji Fertiliser (-21 points), Habib Metropolitan Bank (-14 points), UBL (-13 points) and Pakistan Oilfields (-11 points).
Overall, trading volumes dropped to 840.3 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 844 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs32.6 billion.
Shares of 425 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 229 stocks closed higher, 182 declined and 14 remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 141.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.3 to close at Rs4.39. It was followed by Silkbank with 80.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.09 to close at Rs1.63 and Pakistan Refinery with 62.9 million shares, gaining Rs1.87 to close at Rs26.91.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs562 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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