Strong data, earnings bets propel PSX to record high

Stocks gained over a percent on Monday as upbeat cement and urea sales data and jump in oil prices continued to funnel investors into equities, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti, analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks closed on new highs led by oil, cement and fertilizers scrips on strong earnings outlook. “Surge in global crude prices above $52 a barrel, reports on higher urea, cement sales for Nov'16 and upbeat data on CPI Inflation for Nov'16 played a catalyst role in record close at PSX,” Mehanti said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index gained 469.07 points or 1.08 percent to close at new all time high level of 43,739.97 points. The highest index of the day remained at 43,796.86 points while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 43,270.90 points. KSE-30 Index also rose by 313.77 points to 23,480.62 points.  Turnover fell by 29 million shares to 345.46 million shares, trading value rose to Rs14.10 billion from Rs12.62 billion while market capital expanded to Rs8.86 trillion against Rs8.78 trillion. Out of 417 companies’ active in the session, 213 closed in green, 186 in red while 18 remained unchanged.

Analyst Nabeel Haroon at JS Research said E&Ps led the gains in the market as the sector closed up 4.3 percent. OGDC (up 4.93 percent) and POL (up 3.81 percent) were major movers of the aforementioned sector.  Pakistan Petroleum Limited gained 4.9 percent after it announced that the government has allowed the company to continue production from Sui Mining Lease for an additional period of six months with effect from December 1, 2016.

Cement sector also rallied as investors anticipate strong dispatch numbers for the month of Nov-16, which are likely to be released in the coming days. FCCL (up 2.17 percent) and CHCC (up 1.52 percent) were top performers in the sector.  Fertilizer sector also continued its positive momentum on the back of surge in international urea prices as well as on the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet’s decision to cut gas prices by Rs200/mmbtu for industrial consumers, which is also applicable on gas fuel for fertilizer industry.  EFERT (up 3.37 percent) and FATIMA (up 1.48 percent) were key performers in the sector.

“Moving forward, we expect market to continue its bullish momentum and recommend investors to accumulate on dips,” Haroon suggested.  

Highest increase was recorded in shares of Wyeth Pak Ltd, which rose by Rs59.04 to Rs4,348/share, followed by Khyber Tobacco that increased by Rs43.75 to Rs1,174/share. Major decline was noted in shares of Rafhan Maize, which fell by Rs148 to Rs7,790/share, followed by Philip Morris Pak that decreased by Rs107.50 to Rs2,132.50/share.  Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of Azgard Nine, NIB Bank Limited, WorldCall Telecom, Byco Petroleum, Engro Polymer, TRG Pak Ltd, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd, Bank of Punjab, Pervez Ahmed and Ghani Automobile Ltd.  Azgard Nine remained the volume leader with 27.13 million shares with a decrease of 43 paisas to Rs9.21/share. It was followed by NIB Bank Limited with 22.34 million shares with an increase of seven paisas to Rs2.22/share.  Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 30.12 million shares from 36.12 million shares traded in the previous session.