Market watch: Fuelled by oil, index soars through the roof

Benchmark KSE-100 index increases 381 points.

KARACHI: Bulls dominated the day as the index made another climb amid news of the government attempting to negotiate with protesting parties.

At close, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index increased 1.22% or 381 points to end at 31,680.72.

Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani said Pakistan equities gained as oils staged a comeback.  “Oil stocks staged a comeback on institutional buying as value buyers finally gave in to temptation after sharp declines.



“Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC, +3.4%), after falling near 14% in the last 15 days, closed green.

“Additionally, financials were led by MCB Bank (MCB, +1.7%) and United Bank (UBL, +1.6%),” said Bilwani.

According to Bilwani, bets on improving macros, expectations of a rate cut in the January policy statement and, more importantly, positives on the political front after hints of negotiations between PTI and ruling PML-N, pushed wider market higher.

JS Global analyst Fahad M Ali said that the index inched where oil and gas sector was the major contributor.

“As oil rebounded in international markets, heavy interest was seen by traders and investors in the sector where OGDC hit its ceiling during the trading session,” said Ali.



Trade volumes rose to 337 million shares compared to 323 million on Monday.

Shares of 389 companies were traded on Tuesday. Of these, 124 companies declined, 251 closed higher while 14 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs15.6 billion.

K Electric Limited was the volume leader with 31.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.23 to close at Rs8.26. It was followed by Pakistan International Airline with 26.1 million shares, gaining Rs1.00 to close at Rs7.86 and Summit Bank with 13.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.28 to close at Rs3.88.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs167 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2014.

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