Market watch: Bulls stage comeback on positive triggers

Benchmark KSE-100 index gains 117.26 points to settle at 43,100.71

KARACHI:

Bulls dominated the proceedings at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday, as the benchmark KSE-100 index advanced 117 points to end the week on a positive note.

News reports about the government’s ban on the import of luxury products in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s demands rejuvenated investors’ interest, as they anticipated positivity on the economic front.

Thus, they opted to cherry-pick stocks across the board, even downplaying the fresh depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, which stood at Rs200.14 in the inter-bank market.

Earlier, the session kicked off on a positive note as the index touched an intra-day high of 43,185.80 points during the initial hours of trading. However, some profit-taking in the second half pulled the index down to an intra-day low at 42,938.60.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 117.26 points, or 0.27%, to settle at 43,100.71.

Topline Securities, in its report, said that the KSE-100 index remained in the positive zone during Friday’s trading session as it closed at 43,101 (up 0.27%).

The positivity could be attributed to the emergency economic plan, where the government decided to ban imports of non-essential, luxury items in order to save the dwindling foreign currency reserves. Support also came from the decline in current account deficit for April by 39% on a month-on-month basis to $623 million, Topline said.

Major contribution to the index came from Systems Limited, Fauji Fertiliser Company, HBL and Bank AL Habib as they cumulatively contributed 67 points.

Traded volume and value for the day stood at 190 million shares and Rs3.8 billion respectively. K-Electric was the volume leader with 19 million shares changing hands, Topline said.

A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that stocks recovered sharply as investors weighed the impact of upbeat data that showed only $623 million in current account deficit for April 2022 and speculation about the likely release of $1 billion amid the ongoing Pakistan-IMF review talks.

Easing political noise and higher global crude oil prices coupled with expectations of decrease in imports due to the government’s import ban on luxury products played the role of catalysts in the bullish close of stock market, the report said.

JS Global analyst Muhammad Waqar Iqbal said that the market remained range bound during the day, starting with negative 44 points before closing positive by 117 points.

Investors remained cautious, hoping for positive developments on the political front, which would bring clarity to the direction of the index, he said.

Volume leaders for the day were K-Electric, Silkbank, Pak Elektron, Pakistan Refinery and WorldCall Telecom.

“Going forward, outlook for the market remains dull where investors should opt for a cautious approach keeping an eye out for events such as the rollover week, monetary policy announcement, talks with the IMF and any further political developments,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes increased to 189.9 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 187.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.8 billion.

Shares of 321 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 179 stocks closed higher, 107 declined and 35 remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 19.2 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs2.58. It was followed by Silkbank with 17 million shares, gaining Rs0.06 to close at Rs1.28 and Pak Elektron with 16.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.42 to close at Rs16.05.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs108.2 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.