Market watch: A volatile ride ends in the black

Benchmark 100-share index rises 384.33 points.


Our Correspondent July 13, 2015
Benchmark 100-share index rises 384.33 points.

KARACHI: After a start in the red, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE)-100 index managed to bounce back in style to end close to the 35,500-point level, ending three sessions of decline on the opening day of the week.

Investor interest in index-heavy stocks helped momentum with fertiliser and cements being the main picks. Similarly, numbers of auto sales led to increased activity in the sector as well. However, the oil and gas sector attracted selling interest as global oil prices tumbled.



At close on Monday, the KSE-100 index gained 384.33 points or 1.08% to end at 35,496.62.

An analyst at Topline Securities said announcement of the Greece bailout package helped international and local markets to recover.

“Renewed interest was witnessed in index heavy weight stock like Lucky Cement (LUCK),Engro ,Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) and UBL which contributed 210.11 points to the index’s gain.

“In anticipation of better corporate results of cement and chemical sector, ENGRO and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim (FFBL) closed at their upper limit while FFC, DGKC, LUCK and Maple Leaf Cement rallied 2.93%, 4.49%,4.92% and 2.76%, respectively,” said the analyst.

Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan said Monday’s session was a wild ride where the index juggled in between 550 points.

“Following a nose dive in global oil prices, the oil sector remained depressed, with the exception of Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL) that rallied on the expectation of improved Asphalt production and sale,” said Khan. “Major laggards of the sector were POL (-1.45), APL (-1.41%) and PSO (-0.90%).”

As the auto sales number show growth of 47% year-on-year for automobile manufacturers and 131% year-on-year growth of tractor manufacturers, the auto sector remained strong, PSMC (+1.03%) and AGTL (+3.33%)  were the top performers for the day.

“In anticipation of higher than predicted dispatches and continuously rising local demand, the cement sector remained upbeat.”

Saeed said following the contract between FLSmidth and DGKC (+3.52%), the scrip rallied and was the top performer in the sector. “Fertiliser sector also extended gains, closing all major scrips positively; FFBL hit its upper circuit in the first hour of trading.”

“FFC, EFERT and Fatima Fertilizer closed at 2.95%, 2.15% and 0.99% higher, respectively.”

Shares of 352 companies were traded on Monday. Of these, 224 companies closed higher, 111 fell and 17 remained unchanged.

Trading volumes increased to 345 million compared to 316 million on Friday.



Pace (Pak) Limited was the volume leader with 46.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.68 to close at Rs8.07. It was followed by Azgard-9 with 26.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.97 to close at Rs7.29 and Jahangir Siddiqui with 19.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.67 to close at Rs29.99.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs231 million worth of shares during the session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th,  2015.

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