Market watch: Bullish spell continues at PSX

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 206.07 points to settle at 47,834.33

KARACHI:

Bulls held their ground for the fourth consecutive day at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday as the benchmark KSE-100 index extended gains and moved closer to the 48,000 psychological barrier.

In the morning, trading began with a spike and the market remained on the uptrend throughout the day. Buying in the second session inflated gains and helped the market close above the 47,800-point mark.

The positive market activity was fuelled by a bullish spell in global equity markets coupled with rising international crude oil prices.

Moreover, expectations about major quarterly earnings announcements by the corporate sector helped the bourse to maintain its bullish momentum.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 206.07 points, or 0.43%, to settle at 47,834.33.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Alpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schehzad said that the market fared well because of clarity on the US-Afghanistan issue.

“Local developments regarding an agreement between Lucky Motor Corporation and Samsung Gulf Electronics for producing Samsung mobile devices in Pakistan boosted investor confidence,” he said, adding “when foreign investment pours in, it gives a boost to the local players as well”.

Going forward, the analyst expected healthy activity at the bourse in August when financial results would trickle in as there were expectations of encouraging results in a majority of sectors, especially cement and oil.

Intermarket Securities Head of Research Mohammad Saad Ali said that overall trading activity remained lacklustre and volumes stood low. However, he stated “the upcoming result season can be a source of optimism.”

Moreover, Ali added that market players were also keeping an eye on the monetary policy announcement scheduled to be made later in July.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market remained positive in both sessions on Friday, adding a total of 261 points.

“Lucky Cement announced collaboration with Samsung, which helped the stock trade at a higher level,” it added.

Technology sector also contributed positively to the KSE-100 index, with Systems Limited and Avanceon hitting their upper circuits and closing at elevated levels.

Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (+73 points), cement (+70 points), technology (+51 points), chemical (+14 points), exploration and production (-28 points) and investment banks (-10 points).

Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included Lucky Cement (+59 points), Systems Limited (+47 points), HBL (+27 points), UBL (+17 points) and Bank Alfalah (+13 points).

Stocks that contributed negatively were Pakistan Oilfields (-19 points), Pakistan Stock Exchange (-9 points), Engro Corporation (-8 points), Pakistan State Oil (-6 points) and Mari Petroleum (-5 points).

Overall trading volumes dived to 348.6 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 506.3 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.6 billion.

Shares of 412 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 255 stocks closed higher, 133 declined and 24 remained unchanged.

TPL Corp was the volume leader with 29.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.66 to close at Rs25.13. It was followed by Al-Shaheer Corp with 17.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.67 to close at Rs20.75 and Treet Corp with 17.1 million shares, gaining Rs1.41 to close at Rs60.89.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs36.5 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.