Market watch: Stocks extend gains on positive triggers

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 290.82 points to settle at 44,886.89

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange remained range bound in the trading session on Monday but managed to extend gains as the benchmark KSE-100 index rose 291 points to begin 2022 on a positive note.

Taking cue from recent positive developments on the economic and International Monetary Fund (IMF) fronts, institutional investors were seen assuming fresh positions at attractive stock valuations.

Export figures depicting an increase of 16.7% in December 2021, resultantly aiding the contraction in the country’s trade deficit, bolstered investor confidence and created bullish sentiment at the bourse.

Earlier, the trading started with a rally as investors opted to cherry-pick stocks at attractive valuations. However, the gains subsided in the initial hours and the index touched an intra-day low of 44,509 points.

Later, the index registered a steady incline as institutional investors took fresh positions on positive economic indicators and managed to close in the green.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 290.82 points, or 0.65%, to settle at 44,886.89.

A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the market closed in the green zone as the trade deficit shrank to $4.1 billion in December 2021 and the rupee recovered against the US dollar during the previous week.

The market opened with low volumes but a rally in cement stocks got underway following a drop in international coal prices for the third consecutive session.

“Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2021 came in at 12.28% year-on-year, the highest in 22 months,” it said.

In the last trading hour, across-the-board buying was witnessed mainly in cyclical stocks. The market continued to trade sideways and witnessed hefty volumes in third-tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance included fertiliser (+58 points), cement (+54 points), technology (+50 points), engineering (+39 points) and banks (+33 points).

JS Global analyst Neelam Naz said that the benchmark index started the new year on a positive note and closed in the green at 44,887 points, gaining 291 points day-on-day.

Market volumes remained thin with the total traded volume standing at 195 million shares.

Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (+4.6%), TPL Properties (-0.3%), Ghani Global Holdings (+2%), First National Equities (+4.3%) and Cnergyico PK (-2.3%) accounted for 28% of the total volumes.

“Going forward, we expect the market to pick up pace and recommend investors to avail any dips to accumulate technology, textile, oil and gas exploration stocks,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes decreased to 195.2 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 317.6 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.52 billion.

Shares of 362 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 212 stocks closed higher, 137 declined and 13 remained unchanged.

Pakistan International Bulk Terminal was the volume leader with 12.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.34 to close at Rs7.70. It was followed by TPL Properties with 11.1 million shares, losing Rs0.09 to close at Rs32.56 and Ghani Global Holdings with 10.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.48 to close at Rs24.60.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs206.18 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.