Market watch: Oil, cement garner interest, index passes 34,500

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 247.2 points

KARACHI: Investors ignored foreign selling and turned bullish on oil and cement stocks, boosting the index past the 34,500-point mark on Wednesday. Interest in index-heavy oil and offtake figures of cement helped sentiment with one eye of investors set on the upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) announcement.

At close on Wednesday, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.72% or 247.20 points to end at 34,522.95.

JS Global Analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan said bulls prevailed on the back of interest in exploration and production (E&P) and cement sectors.



“An overall increase of 11% year-on-year in cement dispatches during October 2015 served as a positive trigger for the sector. Top performers of the sector were DG Khan Cement (DGKC +1.77%), Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF +3.70%) and Cherat Cement (CHCC +2.56%).

“Recovery in global crude oil prices brought positivity to the E&P sector, where Pakistan State Oil (PSO +2.84%) was the star performer. Marginal positivity was seen in the banking sector where three out of the big five closed in the green.”

Meanwhile, Elixir Securities report stated that equities broke the dull spell and KSE-100 index settled above 34,500 with near double of Tuesday’s turnover. “Stocks opened up tracking regional markets while gains in oils and cement helped sustain momentum. Oil names attracted interest on higher crude despite reports of foreign selling while lagging cements were in limelight and positive after release of off-take numbers.

“Small and mid-caps also traded up and led volumes as retail investors switched to buying mode on hopes of no major negative surprise from Pakistan-IMF talks.

“Momentum is expected to gather strength with update from IMF review, an event to lookout for, while any large foreign outflow will be a dampener in the short run.”

Trade volumes rose to 185 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 124 million shares.



Shares of 372 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day, 218 stocks closed higher, 131 declined while 23 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.4 billion.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 18.7 million shares, gaining Rs1.88 to finish at Rs39.63. It was followed by Pak Elektron (PAEL) with 15.8 million shares, gaining Rs3.32 to close at Rs80.32 and Sui South Gas (SSGC) with 10.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.22 to close at Rs38.88.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs342 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2015.

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