The stock market reversed its trend on Friday and staged a modest rally, helping the KSE-100 index close with a gain of 118 points.
Automobile sector stocks attracted substantial investor internet on the back of anticipation of reduction in taxes on cars in the budget for fiscal year 2021-22.
A news report suggested that the government was considering slashing taxes on new imported and locally assembled cars of up to 800cc engine capacity in the budget.
A spike in international crude oil prices put the spotlight on the local oil-related sectors where market participants made fresh investments.
Earlier, trading kicked off on a positive note and investor optimism over the budget lifted it by 262 points by the end of first session.
Selling pressure became evident in the second session as investors resorted to profit-booking and erased some of the gains. However, the index managed to end the day in the green.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 118.17 points, or 0.25%, to settle at 48,211.70.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market maintained its positive momentum as the auto sector performed to its best and helped maintain the bullish trend in the market. The automobile sector performed on expectation of increase in vehicle sales.
Read more: Market watch: KSE-100 sheds 33 points in range-bound session
Cement and steel sector stocks rallied as well, helping put on a total of +333 points. The index closed the session up by 118 points.
Exploration and production, oil and gas marketing and fertiliser stocks also contributed to the positivity in the market.
In the technology sector, NetSol performed well, whereas other tech stocks came under selling pressure, the analyst said.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said that the stock market had a positive close on the last trading session of the week. It ended with a gain of 118 points at 48,212.
Total traded volumes stood at 867 million shares with major contribution coming from WorldCall Telecom (-1.4%), Hascol Petroleum (+7.8%), Byco Petroleum (+2.4%), Ghani Global Glass (+6.1%) and PTCL (+5.8%).
There was market talk regarding increase of Rs5-10 in cement prices per bag. In the sector, Javedan Corporation (+7.5%), Power Cement (+0.2%) and DG Khan Cement (+0.4%) closed in the green.
In the steel sector, Aisha Steel Mills (+3.4%), Amreli Steels (+1.8%), International Industries (+1.1%) and Ittefaq Iron Industries (+1.8%) moved higher compared to their previous close.
The exploration and production sector managed to remain in the green zone as crude oil prices continued to edge higher in the international market.
“Going forward, we recommend investors to take benefit of any dip in cement and steel sectors,” the analyst said.
Overall trading volumes rose to 867.3 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 889.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs26.6 billion.
Shares of 422 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 249 stocks closed higher, 150 declined and 23 remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 89 million shares, losing Rs0.05 to close at Rs3.51. It was followed by Hascol Petroleum with 78.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.86 to close at Rs11.91 and Byco Petroleum with 54.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.27 to close at Rs11.44.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs150.8 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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