Market watch: Bulls toss KSE-100 above 44,000 points

Benchmark index soars 505.14 points to settle at 44,438.7

KARACHI:

Bulls held sway at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday, as buoyant investors rushed to make fresh purchases driven by a political twist that was cherished by the market.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s surprise resignation a day earlier relaxed the prolonged political turmoil in the country and proved to be a ray of hope for the market players, who opted to assume across-the-board positions.

Besides partial clarity on the political front, a fresh slump in the global commodity prices also helped the index surge past the 44,000-point barrier.

The session kicked-off with a sharp rally and the market sustained the uptrend throughout the day.

During the second half, the index touched an intra-day high of 44,479 points and finally managed to settle just below the 44,500 points level.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a surge of 505.14 points, or 1.15%, to settle at 44,438.7 points.

Topline Securities, in its report, said that a decline in international commodity prices led the market to continue its previous day’s positive momentum, where the market made an intra-day high of 545 points.

Major gainers were Hub Power Company and Pakistan State Oil, which cumulatively added 86 points.

Furthermore, investors’ interests were also witnessed in the cement sector where Lucky Cement, DG Khan Cement and Maple Leaf Cement closed on a higher note, the report said.

A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that another positive day was witnessed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange, as the KSE-100 index remained in the green zone throughout the day.

Investor participation in the market stayed healthy due to decline in international oil prices.

Cement sector remained in the limelight due to a decline in international coal prices. Across the board buying activity was observed.

Sectors contributing to the performance included cement (+88.4 points), power (+70 points), oil marketing companies (+44.9 points), exploration and production (+39.1 points) and automobile assemblers (+35.9 points).

JS Global analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala said that the bulls remained in charge throughout the day as the benchmark index closed at 44,439, gaining 505 points day-on-day.

WorldCall Telecom (8.3%), Ghani Global Holdings (7%), K-Electric (3%), TPL Properties (4.4%) and Cnergyico PK (1.3%) were the highest contributors in terms of volume.

“Going forward, we recommend investors to avail any downside as an opportunity to buy in technology and cement sectors,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes increased to 268.9 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 132.6 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.2 billion.

Shares of 363 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 247 stocks closed higher, 87 declined and 29 remained unchanged.

Pak Elektron (R) was the volume leader with 37.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.85 to close at Rs1.97. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 27.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.13 to close at Rs1.7 and Ghani Global Holdings with 15 million shares, gaining Rs1.04 to close at Rs15.9.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs436.4 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.