Bourse closes in green on cherry-picking

Benchmark KSE-100 index adds 262.33 points to settle at 41,577.21

KARACHI:

Pakistan stock market opened the week on a positive note on Monday as investors opted for cherry-picking of attractive stocks.

Following the bearish spell in the previous week, the session started on a positive note, but the benchmark KSE-100 index touched an intra-day low at 41,031.91 points soon after the commencement of trading.

However, investor interest was observed in the second half of the day on the back of positive reports that the government had set the budget deficit target at a lower level at 5% for FY23 and earmarked Rs800 billion for the development projects.

Oil stocks outperformed others at the bourse due to surging global crude oil prices, providing vital support to the market.

Selected stocks, propelled by pre-budget speculation, also helped the benchmark index to close on a positive note.

Moreover, the investors opted to cherry-pick stocks, despite the fresh depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, which stood at Rs200.06 in the inter-bank market.

The index remained in the positive zone almost throughout the day and touched an intra-day high at 41,674.10 points.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 262.33 points, or 0.63%, to settle at 41,577.21 points.

Topline Securities, in its report, said that Pakistan equities closed in the green where the benchmark KSE-100 index settled at 41,577 (up 0.63%).

During the day, the index hit an intra-day low at 282 points. However, value hunting kicked in at that level, which assisted the index to make some recovery, which led the market to an intra-day high at 360 points, Topline said.

Initial positivity came from the cement sector as cement prices in the southern region increased by Rs25 per bag (effective June 6, 2022). In the sector, Lucky Cement, Maple Leaf Cement, DG Khan Cement and Kohat Cement closed higher, the report said.

Further investor interest was witnessed in the E&P sector where Pakistan Petroleum, Oil and Gas Development Company and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) closed higher as news reports suggested that Ogra had raised gas prices for SNGPL and Sui Southern Gas Company by 45% and 44% respectively, it added.

Around 189 million shares were traded at the bourse while the total value came in at Rs4.9 billion. Unity Foods was the volume leader with trading in 33.1 million shares.

JS Global analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala said that the KSE-100 index remained range bound and closed at 41,577, gaining 262 points day-on-day.

A total of 190 million shares were traded where Unity Foods (-1%), Pakistan Refinery (+0.5%), TPL Properties (+7.5%), Cnergyico Pk (+1.4%) and Ghani Global Holdings (+4.2%) were the major contributors, he said.

“The index is expected to remain range bound in the coming days due to the lack of positive triggers and upcoming major events like budget announcement, meetings with an IMF team and FATF meeting,” the analyst said.

“We recommend investors to avail the ongoing short-term market reversal as an opportunity to trim their positions.”

Overall trading volumes increased to 189.2 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 225.4 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.9 billion.

Shares of 342 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 193 stocks closed higher, 126 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods was the volume leader with 33.1 million shares, losing Rs0.21 to close at Rs21.07. It was followed by Pak Refinery with 16.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.09 to close at Rs17.46 and TPL Properties with 11.7 million shares, gaining Rs1.29 to close at Rs18.55.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs358.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.