Stocks rallied on Thursday led by bargain-hunting amid triggers like G20 debt relief, easing treasury bills yields, and bets on strong corporate results, dealers said.
Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) KSE-100 Shares Index gained 1.79 percent or 787.78 points to close at 44,741.36 points.
Volumes increased to 383.105 million shares from 370.526 million in the last trading session.
A A H Soomro at KASB Securities said stock market bounced back from massive foreign selling seen a day earlier.
Interest was seen across the board as value hunters searched for bargains, he said.
“Undoubtedly, equities as an asset class look quite attractive for medium- and long-term investors given the low interest rates.”
Soomro said PM's hinting at softening the terms with the IMF in a new package implied that growth would take precedence over conservative stabilisation policies, adding, it was expected after Hafeez Shaikh's departure.
As many as 391 scrips were active of which 267 advanced, 100 declined, and 24 remained unchanged.
Topline Securities in a note said the day kicked off on a positive note and remained positive throughout the day as investors cheered an extension in debt servicing by G20 and slight decline in the T-Bill auction.
“On the corporate front, Fauji Foundation will not be proceeding with the due diligence of Silkbank. However, Habib Bank has requested central bank’s approval to proceed with the
due diligence of consumer portfolio of Silkbank,” the brokerage said.
KSE-30 Shares Index also gained 1.78 percent or 319.94 points to close at 18,332.21 points.
Dealers said G20’s agreement to extending debt relief was comforting news for Pakistan. Similarly, the IPO of Service Global Footwear received tremendous response and subscribed at the peak rate, they added.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks showed recovery led by scrips across the board amid speculations in the earnings season.
Higher global equities, easing political noise, stable government bond yields and stronger rupee build a positive close at the PSX, Mehanti added.
There is a lot of liquidity, optimism, and demand for good quality stocks. Analysts expect the market to remain greenish-to-flat as potential rise in number of Covid cases over the weekend could dampen the positivity, temporarily.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said post foreign selling and realising loss of 451 points, KSE-100 index rebounded and closed at session’s high.
Cement and steel sector stocks remained buoyant, where investors sounded optimistic on upcoming quarterly results, whereas tech stocks added to the momentum and hit upper circuit by the end of the session, the analyst added.
Rafhan Maize, rising Rs350 to close at Rs9,850/share and Bata Pakistan, adding Rs80 to close at Rs1,940/share, were the top two gainers of the day.
Indus Motor Company, dropping Rs13.18 to close at Rs1,122.18/share, and Imrooz Modaraba, shedding Rs12.22 to end at Rs150.78/share ended the day as the worst losers.
With its 35.91 million shares changing hands, Ghani Global was the highest traded share, followed by TRG Pakistan with 28.68 million shares, and Byco Petroleum, posting a turnover of 26.027 million shares.