Market watch: Stocks bounce back quickly following monetary policy statement

Benchmark KSE-100 index climbs 183.61 points.

KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.69% or 183.61 points to end at 26,913.85.

“After the correction, the market rebounded as the news of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approving the concessionary gas pricing incentive for Engro’s fertilizer business boosted the sentiment,” said Fahad Ali of JS Global Capital.

It was also the first day of listing of Engro Fertilizer which opened at its upper cap. Engro Corporation also closed up by 5% on the above mentioned news.



“Decent interest was seen across the board as rumours got strong regarding the discount rate remaining unchanged in the monetary policy statement. Now that the State Bank of Pakistan has kept the discount rate unchanged at 10%, another rally in the capital markets cannot be ruled out,” he said.

“We believe that the market will continue to perform where the textile and cement sector will remain in the limelight.”

Meanwhile, Fareesa Baig of Elixir Securities said the market sentiment remained mixed with respect to the monetary policy.

“Interest in financials remained strong with MCB Bank (+1.1%), United Bank (+.9%) and Bank Al Habib (+2.1%) inching up alongside cements that also gathered investor focus over expectations of a status quo this evening,” She said.

“Lucky Cement (-.4%) succumbed to late selling pressures while other second and third-tier cement names continued to dominate volume charts.”

“With yesterday’s policy announcement bringing no negative surprise, we see the market to remain strong and momentum upbeat with all eyes now on coming earnings season as pay-out and earnings stories keep investors’ interest alive,” she concluded.



Trade volumes fell to 336 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 348 million.

Shares of 400 companies were traded on Friday. At the end of the day, 233 stocks closed higher, 152 declined while 15 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.1 billion.

Jahangir Siddiqui and Company was the volume leader with 38 million shares, gaining Rs0.10 to finish at Rs12.05. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 20 million shares, gaining Rs0.39 to close at Rs8.10 and Karachi Electricity Supply Company with 14 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs6.76.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs555 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2014.

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