Market watch: Bulls return as economic dust settles

Benchmark KSE-100 index surges 806.65 points to settle at 46,542.91

KARACHI:

Bulls on Tuesday staged a spectacular comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange, as the benchmark KSE-100 index snapped a three-day losing streak and powered past the 46,000-point level.

Investor confidence revived due to a number of positive developments including payments to independent power producers (IPPs), which boosted investment in power sector stocks.

The decision of keeping petroleum product prices unchanged coupled with the assurance of political stability given by the government’s coalition partners and fresh appreciation of the rupee against the greenback instilled optimism among market participants.

Moreover, speculation about positive conclusion of ongoing negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – hinted at by government officials – encouraged investors, who opted to cherry-pick stocks across the board.

Earlier, trading began with a spike and the KSE-100 index rallied, mainly led by power sector stocks, on the back of positive development about the IPPs. The index climbed at a steady pace throughout the day and the uptrend accelerated in final minutes.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 806.65 points, or 1.76%, to settle at 46,542.91.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the bullish momentum emerged just after the opening bell in the market, mainly led by the power sector, as the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved a payment of Rs134.783 billion to the IPPs as a second instatement (60%) as per the payment mechanism.

Appreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar and the prime minister’s decision not to increase prices of petroleum products till November 30 gave confidence to the investors.

Cement and exploration and production stocks contributed the most to the bull-run, it said.

In the last trading hour, the technology sector made the journey to the north with TRG Pakistan hitting its upper circuit due to talk of buyback of shares.

On the institutional front, buying activity was witnessed across the board by the mutual funds.

Sectors contributing to the performance included cement (+189 points), technology (121 points), exploration and production (104 points), power (+78 points) and banks (63 points).

Overall trading volumes increased to 243.2 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 172.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.4 billion.

Shares of 351 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 239 stocks closed higher, 89 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

Ghani Global Holdings was the volume leader with 16.6 million shares, losing Rs0.42 to close at Rs33.73. It was followed by TPL Properties XB with 15.2 million shares, gaining Rs3.28 to close at Rs51.95 and Waves Singer with 11 million shares, gaining Rs1.32 to close at Rs19.62.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs586.28 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.