Market watch: Foreigners sell, but index jumps on results

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 271 points

KARACHI: Results announcements were enough to nudge investors into action as the benchmark-100 index powered past the 34,300-mark with relative ease on Thursday.

Companies’ profitability surpassed expectations in several cases, presenting investors the opportunity to cash in after weeks of volatility and low turnover.

At close on Thursday, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.80% or 271.01 points to end at 34,332.43.



JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said bulls dominated the market with corporate announcements being the major driver. “Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC +5%) and Indus Motors (INDU +4.29%) announced their results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, where earnings-per-share (EPS) of Rs22.11 and Rs37.33 respectively, exceeded market expectation.

“Intraday recovery of global crude oil prices brought positivity to the sector.

“Star performer of the day was Pakistan State Oil (PSO +4.01%), on the back of better-than-expected results announced yesterday. Moving forward, positivity is expected to persist till the week’s end.”

Meanwhile, Elixir Securities, in its report, stated equities added to the recent gains as a sharp surge in global crude pushed index heavy oil names higher and helped escalate the momentum in the broader market.



“Despite foreign selling, higher turnover on KSE-100 (20-day high) clearly indicates revival of confidence as earnings continue to surprise across the board.

“K-Electric (KEL +3.76%) closed green after announcing quarterly earnings that beat estimates, while Engro Corp (ENGRO +1.44%) that traded highest turnover since early September was volatile and closed positive, as disappointing earnings on one-offs was countered by higher than expected pay-out for the quarter.”

Trade volumes rose to 192 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 164 million shares.

Shares of 393 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 210 stocks closed higher, 172 declined while 11 remained unchanged.

The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.4 billion.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 18.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.27 to finish at Rs7.46. It was followed by Pace (Pak) Limited with 15.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs7.80 and Pak Elektron with 7.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.37 to close at Rs77.44.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs686 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2015.

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