Market watch: KSE-100 gains in topsy-turvy session

Benchmark index edges up 53.73 points to settle at 43,883.08

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange experienced a roller-coaster ride on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index snapped a two-day bearish streak and recovered 54 points.

Speculation about the possible receipt of International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan tranche of $1 billion this month coupled with State Bank of Pakistan’s curbs on buying of US dollar to arrest the rupee’s decline revived investor optimism, which supported the KSE-100 index to close in the green.

Despite the central bank’s measures, there was no respite for the local currency and it fell to a fresh low of 171.04 in the inter-bank market during the trading session.

Earlier, trading activity kicked off with a steep plunge, however, the market began to recover towards midday, aided by cherry-picking from investors. Upbeat mood of market players triggered a rally in the second half of the session, helping the index end trading with a slight increase.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 53.73 points, or 0.12%, to settle at 43,883.08.

JS Global analyst Neelum Naz said that the KSE-100 index endured heavy selling in the first half but eventually managed to close in the green.

The market recovered by the end of the day due to broad-based value-buying across all sectors as shares were trading at deep discounts.

Healthy participation was witnessed in stocks of bank, cement and fertiliser sectors.

“Moving forward, we recommend investors to adopt a buy-on-dip strategy in blue-chip stocks,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes increased to 404.9 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 226.6 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs15.6 billion.

Shares of 535 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 217 stocks closed higher, 302 declined and 16 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 51.1 million shares, losing Rs0.04 to close at Rs2.21. It was followed by Telecard Limited with 27.6 million shares, losing Rs0.72 to close at Rs16.55 and Treet Corporation with 21.8 million shares, losing Rs4.02 to close at Rs49.64.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs666.13 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.