Market watch: Stocks close week on bullish note

Benchmark KSE-100 index surges 341.37 points to settle at 47,599.82

KARACHI:

Bulls managed to sustain the uptrend after trading resumed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday after a two-day holiday for 9th and 10th Muharram.

Despite the lack of clarity on the emerging situation in Afghanistan and poor foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, which slowed down to an eight-month low of $89.9 million in July, investors remained optimistic.

A recovery in some index-heavy sectors fuelled the bullish momentum at the bourse.

During the day, Lotte Chemical and FrieslandCampina Engro announced their financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2021.

However, a few dips were witnessed during the session on the back of rising coronavirus cases in the fourth wave across Pakistan.

In the morning, trading began with a spike in the benchmark KSE-100 index and the market maintained the uptrend throughout the day. Buying in the second session inflated gains and helped the market close above the 47,500-point mark.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 341.37 points, or 0.72%, to settle at 47,599.82.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market added another 341 points after gaining traction earlier in the week.

“Relative stability in Afghanistan helped investors regain confidence, especially the decision to remove customs duty on different items, which would particularly improve dispatches for the cement sector,” the report said.

The last session of the week was a reflection of that, with cement, bank, steel, refinery, fertiliser and oil and gas marketing sectors contributing positively to the index.

On the flip side, the exploration and production sector retreated due to a significant drop in international crude oil prices over the past couple of days when Pakistan stock market was closed.

Sectors contributing to the performance included cement (+182 points), banks (+73 points), oil and gas marketing companies (+39 points), engineering (+27 points) and fertiliser (+15 points).

Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included Meezan Bank (+64 points), DG Khan Cement (+39 points), Cherat Cement (+32 points), Lucky Cement (+31 points) and Pakistan State Oil (+31 points).

Stocks that contributed negatively were Pakistan Services (-10 points), Mari Petroleum (-9 points), TRG Pakistan (-9 points), Oil and Gas Development Company (-7 points) and Nestle (-7 points).

JS Global analyst Neelum Naz said that following a decent upside rally, the KSE-100 index closed near its intra-day high of 47,644 at 47,600, up 341 points.

Major contributors to the total volume of 299 million shares were Ghani Global Holdings (+4.3%), Byco Petroleum (+1.7%), TPL Corp (+1.1%), Silkbank (+1.7%) and WorldCall Telecom (-0.6%).

Major activity was witnessed in the cement sector due to news of price increase in the southern region. On the result front, Lotte Chemical (-2.3%) announced its six-month results, posting earnings per share of Rs1.72.

“Going forward, investors are advised to book gains across the board until market closes above 47,800,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes rose to 299.1 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 246.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs13.1 billion.

Shares of 464 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 298 stocks closed higher, 139 declined and 27 remained unchanged.

Ghani Global Holdings was the volume leader with 21.6 million shares, gaining Rs1.92 to close at Rs46.93. It was followed by Byco Petroleum with 18.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.17 to close at Rs9.92 and TPL Corp with 10.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.25 to close at Rs22.06.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs465.9 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.