Market watch: KSE-100 gains on back of upbeat current account data

KARACHI: The stock market remained bullish on Friday on the back of upbeat data on the current account deficit for FY19 and a surge in foreign exchange reserves, which went up after the receipt of first loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The uptrend emerged late in the trading session. Foreign inflows, government’s approval of an increase in local fertiliser prices and hopes for improved Pakistan-US trade ties in the wake of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Washington next week played the role of catalysts in bullish close of the market.

At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 149.23 points, or 0.46%, to settle at 32,458.77.

In its report, Arif Habib Limited stated that the KSE-100 index oscillated between +240 points and -408 points. “First session ended down by 240 points with trading in 49 million shares whereas the second session saw recovery in the index, leading to a gain of 240 points (unadjusted),” it said.

“News of the State Enterprise/Market Opportunity Fund helped improve investor sentiment in the second session.”

Buying activity was seen in index heavyweights such as Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Lucky Cement. PSO hit its upper circuit.

The cement sector led the volumes chart with trading in 27 million shares, contributed by Maple Leaf Cement (14.4 million shares) and DG Khan Cement (4.5 million). It was followed by the technology sector (14 million) and power sector (12 million).

TRG Pakistan ranked second in terms of traded volume with 12 million shares, the report added.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said owing to political uncertainty the market started on a negative note and the KSE-100 index hit the intra-day low of -408 points.

“On clarification of no crackdown on companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the benchmark index took a U-turn in the second half, touching the intra-day high of +240 points,” he said.

Eventually, the market closed positive at 32,459 with a rise of 143 points.

The cement sector led the volumes chart with trading in 26.9 million shares where DG Khan Cement (+1.6%) and Lucky Cement (+2.3%) closed positive while Maple Leaf Cement (-1.2%) and Fauji Cement (-1.4%) moved down.

Pakistan Petroleum (+2%), Oil and Gas Development Company (+1.9%) and Pakistan Oilfields (+0.5%) from the exploration and production sector moved higher on the back of increase in crude oil prices in the international market.

“Moving forward, we recommend investors to stay cautious and adopt sell-on-strength strategy,” he said.

Overall, trading volumes increased to 121.6 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 87.4 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.4 billion.

Shares of 316 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 155 stocks closed higher, 129 declined and 32 remained unchanged.

Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 14.4 million shares, losing Rs0.24 to close at Rs19.78. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 12.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.33 to close at Rs13 and K-Electric with 11.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.1 to close at Rs3.64.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs363.1 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.

Source: Tribune.com.pk

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