PSX posts all-time closing high in dull trade

Stocks set record closing on Monday, helped by selective buying in a reporting season but investors, in large part, stayed on the sidelines ahead of two days Ashura holidays, dealers said.

“Dull activity was observed at the local bourse on the back of Ashura holidays… some buying was witnessed on value stocks,” said Hammad Aman, analyst at Topline Securities.

He said oil and gas marketing companies, including Pakistan State Oil, Shell, Hascol and HTL gained 1.0 percent to 5.0 percent on the back of better sales on year-on-year basis.

Interest was also seen in small banks such Bank Al-Habib Limited, Askari Bank Limited and Faisal Bank that gained 4.3 percent, 5.0 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.  The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index gained 0.49 percent or 203.49 points to close at a fresh all time high of 41,403.97 points. The highest index of the day remained at 41,431.77 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 41,200.48 points. KSE-30 Index closed flat with a drop of only 1.68 points to 22,662.23 points.  Turnover dropped by 99 million shares to 363.05 million shares, trading value decreased to Rs11.99 billion from Rs14.30 billion, while market capital rose to Rs8.42 trillion from Rs8.38 trillion. Out of 458 companies’ active in the session, 270 closed in green, 178 in red while 10 remained unchanged.  Nabeel Haroon, analyst at JS Research, said positivity prevailed in the market on the last trading day before the Ashura public holidays. “Investors interest was seen in the textile sector on the back of reports that the government is expected to announce an incentive package for exporters,” Haroon said. “This package, among other incentives will consist of rebate on exports and removal of regulatory duty on industrial inputs used in production.”  Nishat Mills Limited (up 3.86 percent) and Nishat Chunian Limited (up 4.39 percent) were top performers of the aforementioned sector. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (up 4.56 percent) gained as OGRA approved increase in gas tariff.

“Moving forward, we reiterate our bullish stance on the market and recommend investors to accumulate on dips,” Haroon suggested.

Highest increase was recorded in shares of Nestle Pakistan, which rose by Rs209.20 to Rs7,899.20/share, followed by Sanofi-Aventis that increased by Rs61.25 to Rs1,286.25/share. Major decline was noted in shares of Unilever Foods XD, which fell by Rs133.76 to Rs5,300/share, followed by Pak Tobacco that decreased by Rs49 to Rs1,150/share.  Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of Bank of Punjab, Japan Power, TRG Pak Ltd, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited, Summit Bank, WorldCall Telecom, Colony Textile Mills Ltd, Askari Bank and Aisha Steel Mill.

Bank of Punjab remained the volume leader with 33.42 million shares with an increase of Re1.0 to Rs16.55/share. It was followed by Japan Power with 19.18 million shares with an increase of 28 paisas to Rs6.72/share. Shares’ turnover in the future contracts fell to 36.42 million shares from 45.61 million shares traded in the previous session.