Market watch: Bulls charge as KSE-100 surges nearly 2%

Benchmark index rises 856.49 points to close at 44,404.70

KARACHI:

Bulls staged a comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday, pushing the KSE-100 index up by over 900 points in intra-day trading.

The rally erased the hefty losses borne by the market a day earlier.

A boost to Pakistan’s vaccination drive accelerated buying activity at the bourse. National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Chairman Asad Umar announced that the country had achieved one-million vaccination mark.

Moreover, delay in the anticipated cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Imran Khan provided much-needed clarity on the political front, which enticed investors to make fresh investment.

Earlier, trading began on a positive note as investors moved to add to their holdings. A slump was witnessed after midday, however, it was corrected in later trading. A late session rally widened the gains and helped the index close above the 44,400-point mark.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 856.49 points, or 1.97%, to settle at 44,404.70 points.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Alpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schehzad said that the rally was triggered by political stability. “On the other hand, improvement in Pakistan’s Covid-19 vaccination drive also helped fuel the bull run,” he said.

AA Gold Commodities’ Director Operations Adnan Agar said that market participants cheered Prime Minister Imran Khan’s refusal to impose a nationwide lockdown that aided the rally. Such a move would have hurt the economy and businesses.

He anticipated that the bourse would remain volatile over the next few sessions, citing that on the one hand, investors were cheering the release of $500 million loan tranche by the International Monetary Fund while on the other hand, rising Covid-19 infections could turn the direction of the market around.

“The daily number of Covid-19 cases will largely influence the direction of the market over the next few days,” he said.

JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said that the KSE-100 index closed positive at 44,404 (+856 points), staging a rebound by touching a high of +930 points.

Total traded volume for the day was 306 million shares. Robust buying was witnessed at the bourse where TRG Pakistan (+7.5%), Lucky Cement (+2.7%), Hubco (+2.3%), HBL (+1.6%), Systems Limited (+3.3%), Engro (+1.2%) and PSO (+2.3%) added 320 points to the market’s positive close.

Pioneer Cement (+7.3%) hit its upper limit whereas Pakistan Petroleum (+1.2%), Pakistan Oilfields (+1.1%) and Oil and Gas Development Company (+1.2%) also moved up on the back of rising crude oil prices.

“Moreover, we expect the market to remain positive ahead although increasing corona cases and lack of any immediate triggers may keep investors at bay, hence we recommend investors to buy value stocks at dips,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes rose to 305.96 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 302.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs16.1 billion.

Shares of 393 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 301 stocks closed higher, 71 declined and 21 remained unchanged.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 20.6 million shares, gaining Rs9.56 to close at Rs137.04. It was followed by NetSol with 19.2 million shares, gaining Rs9.77 to close at Rs172.52 and Unity Foods with 16.5 million shares, gaining Rs1.91 to close at Rs29.22.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs127.4 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.