Stocks on Monday advanced, mostly led by fertilisers, while short-covering also came in handy, amid improved turnover, dealers said.
Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index gained 0.44 percent or 176.15 points to close at 40,340.17 points, while ready volumes increased to 319.563 million shares, compared to 254.204 million shares in the last session.
KSE-30 shares index hit a high of 0.37 percent or 61.96 points to end at 16,996.82 points. Brokerage Topline Securities in a report said, “Stocks ended positive with Engro, Efertilizer, Mari Petroleum, Meezan Bank, and PIBTL cumulatively adding 125 points to the benchmark index”.
The fertilizer sector, up 1.32 percent, saw renewed interest after ECC meeting decided to prepare a proposal on subsidy on fertilisers mainly DAP, which may be offered as a part of the package for the farmers to reduce their input cost, the brokerage said.
Trading activity was recorded in 392 active scrips, of which 233 ended higher, 140 retreated, and 19 remained unchanged. Muhammad Saeed Khalid, head of research at Shajar Capital, said, “The market remained robust during the day mainly due to the announcement of better economic numbers”.
Khalid said the index marked an intra-day high of 40,491 points to close at 40,341 points’ level. “Investors accumulated in the food and textile segment where trade numbers showed the textiles surged 3 percent YoY in the first quarter of current fiscal year, along with higher import of wheat that may reduce cost of production of food comp nies,” he said.
Lower wheat prices along with expected reduction in sugar prices were likely to reduce inflationary pressures, Khalid added. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporation said, “Stocks showed recovery amid thin trades on higher global crude oil prices and speculations in the earnings season”.
Mehanti further said mid-session pressure remained on higher inflation, political noise and uncertainty over FATF decision later this week. “Strong data on cement and auto sales for September, G20 decision over 6-month extension of $1.2 billion loan repayment, strong rupee recovery, and upbeat data on LSM growth at 1.19 percent YoY in August led to a close,” Mehanti added.
An analyst from Ismail Iqbal Securities said, “Equities remained lacklustre due to continued political noise and FATF review around the corner”. Mari Petroleum rose 2.6 percent on above market and industry financial result expectation, which boosted overall sentiment, the analyst added.
Sapphire Textile, gaining Rs33.08 to close at Rs773.09/share, and Mari Petroleum, up Rs33.02 to finish at Rs1324.76/share, were the top gainers, while Bata Pakistan, down Rs30 to close at Rs1,620/share, and Indus Dyeing, losing Rs27.80 to close at Rs550/share, ended the day as the main losers.
With 53.658 million shares, Unity Foods Limited, up Rs1.28 to end at Rs19.00/share, was on
the top of the volumes chart, whereas Lalpir Power, up Rs0.98 to end at Rs13.16/share, was at the bottom with 5.197 million traded shares.