KARACHI:
Bulls held sway at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index, after remaining in positive territory for most of the session, closed the day with a surge of 542 points.
Investors opted to take fresh positions at attractive valuations ahead of major corporate result announcements due this week.
Cherry-picking was witnessed mainly in the technology and communication sector as foreign inflows during the previous week bolstered the confidence of market participants.
Moreover, upbeat data of textile exports for the first half of current fiscal year instilled optimism among the investors.
Earlier, the trading session kicked off on a dull note as investors were sceptical about the rising Covid-19 cases in the country, which could lead to the imposition of country-wide movement restrictions. The KSE-100 index touched an intra-day low of 45,206 points during the initial hours.
However, it soon recovered the losses and managed to rise at a steady pace through the rest of the day, as investors started assuming fresh positions, taking cue from positive developments and closed in the green zone.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 541.98 points, or 1.2%, to settle at 45,887.63.
A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the market stayed in the bullish zone as investors became optimistic due to the highest-ever textile exports in the first half of current fiscal year.
The market opened under pressure as fears mounted in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in Pakistan, it said.
An hour after the opening of the market, traders made aggressive bets on technology stocks. A rally was noted in the banking sector due to expectation of foreign inflows.
The cement sector stayed in the green zone because of a decline in international coal prices. Activity continued to remain sideways as the market witnessed hefty volumes in third-tier stocks, the report said.
Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (+205 points), power (+70 points), cement (+64 points), miscellaneous (+56 points) and technology (+49 points).
JS Global analyst Neelam Naz said that the KSE-100 index closed in the green zone at 45,888, with a gain of 542 points day-on-day.
Major positive contributors to the index were The Hub Power Company, Pakistan Services Limited, MCB Bank, TRG Pakistan and Habib Bank.
Major volume leaders were WorldCall Telecom (+1.8%), Hum Network (+4.2%), TRG Pakistan (+3.2%), Telecard Limited (-0.7%) and Treet Corporation (+4.6%).
Hub Power announced its board meeting to consider the entitlement of dividend for shareholders, which kept the stock in limelight.
“Going forward, the market may undergo a short-term correction and a buy-on-dip strategy is advised for the technology, fertiliser, banking and cyclical sector stocks,” the analyst said.
Overall trading volumes increased to 356.97 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 242.26 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.9 billion.
Shares of 383 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 243 stocks closed higher, 112 declined and 28 remained unchanged.
Unity Foods (R) was the volume leader with 33.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs2.43. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 30.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs2.32 and TRG Pakistan with 25.8 million shares, gaining Rs3.41 to close at Rs109.17.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs166.79 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan
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