Market watch: Stocks stage decent rally on corporate results

Benchmark KSE-100 index adds 106.7 points to settle at 45,947.95

KARACHI:

Buying interest re-emerged at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday as investor sentiment was primarily driven by strong corporate result announcements in power and cement sectors.

The benchmark KSE-100 index, despite remaining volatile throughout the day, managed to stage a decent rally in second half of the session.

On the flip side, rising international crude oil and coal prices kept the market under pressure as investors feared a further increase in inflation due to costly imports.

Earlier, trading began on a dull note and the benchmark index oscillated in a narrow range. Just before the end of first half, the KSE-100 touched an intra-day low of 45,728 points as investors opted to book profit across the board.

During the second half, the market began to recover gradually and touched an intra-day high of 46,041 points. However, profit-taking towards the end of trading erased some gains, pulling the index below the 46,000-point mark.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 106.70 points, or 0.23%, to settle at 45,947.95.

A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the market remained volatile due to mounting international oil prices. Cement sector came under pressure due to higher international coal prices.

In the chemical sector, Engro Polymer made the journey towards north as it announced tremendous financial results, beating market expectations.

Investors were unable to keep the market above the psychological level of 46,000 as profit-taking emerged across the board, the report said.

Mainboard activity remained gloomy. Activity continued to remain sideways with hefty volumes in third-tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance included fertiliser (+81 points), chemicals (+33 points), investment banks (+29 points), textile composite (+24 points) and power (+17 points).

JS Global analyst Waqar Iqbal said that trading activity was dull as the market hunted for a fresh trigger to move from current levels.

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 45,948, gaining 107 points day-on-day. Volume leaders were Hum Network, Engro Polymer, WorldCall Telecom, K-Electric and Pak Elektron.

“Going forward, slight correction can be expected and we advise investors to book profits at current levels,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes increased to 187.4 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 150.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.1 billion.

Shares of 364 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 153 stocks closed higher, 184 declined and 27 remained unchanged.

Hum Network was the volume leader with 23.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.27 to close at Rs7.77. It was followed by Engro Polymer with 14.7 million shares, gaining Rs3.7 to close at Rs61.21 and WorldCall Telecom with 14.2 million shares, losing Rs0.03 to close at Rs2.2.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs156.5 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan