Stocks gain over one percent on buying in blue-chip shares

Stocks on Friday snapped back 1.1 percent, stirred by a fresh interest in blue chips after apex court’s much-awaited judgment in cases involving top politicians pepped up the relieved investors to retake the trading floor, dealers said. “Stocks turned bullish in the late session rally, led by scrips across the board, following Supreme Court of Pakistan’s announced verdict in NAB references,” Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp said. A three-member SC bench dismissed NAB's appeal to reopen the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.

Mehanti added that International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) statement on Pakistan’s high growth path, higher global crude oil prices, upbeat data for car sales in November 2017, and reports on surging fertiliser and cement sales in December 2017 catalysed a bullish close.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index gained 1.10 percent or 422.35 points to close at 38,645.90 points . The index recorded a day’s high of 38,917.84 points, while the lowest level of the day settled at 38,192 .58 points. KSE-30 Index also rose 219.92 points to close at 19,280.20 points.

The turnover also increased 47 million shares to 139.76 million shares from 92.94 million shares. Trading value rose to Rs9.11 billion from Rs4.10 billion, while market capital expanded to Rs8.24 trillion from 8.20 trillion. Out of 349 active names, 222 closed in green, 98 in red, and 29 remained unchanged.

Maaz Mulla, analyst at JS Research, said ENGRO, up 3.98 percent, Habib Bank Limited, up 2.30 percent, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd, up 3.94 percent, and Pakistan Petroleum Limited, up 1.18 percent, contributed more than 160 points to the index being Friday’s major movers. “Going forward, we recommend investors to book profits on strength,” he suggested.

Investors' interest was seen in the engineering sector as MUGHAL, up 4.54 percent, and ASTL, up 3.07 percent, closed in green zone on the back of news reports suggesting increase in price of steel bars.

In the textile sector, Nishat Mills Limited remained under the spotlight by gaining 2.05 percent, as it announced the groundbreaking of Hyundai Nishat Motors plant and commencement of production of new spinning facility this month.

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), went up 1.11 percent, and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) rose by 3.94 percent, while the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) strengthened 1.87 percent. In the exploration and production sector, Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) went up 0.59 percent, whereas Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) closed stronger by 0.25 percent.

The highest increase was recorded in the shares of Colgate Palmolive, which rose Rs51 to Rs2,641/share, followed by Sapphire Fiber, up Rs33.75 to close at Rs812.50/share. The major decline was noted in the shares of Nestle Pakistan XD, which fell Rs635 to Rs12,065/share, followed by Jubilee Life Insurance XD that decreased Rs36.50 to Rs693.50/share.

Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of TRG Pak Ltd, Pak Elektron, Engro Corp XD, K-Electric Ltd, JS Bank Ltd, Habib Bank, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd XD, Dewan Cement, Aisha Steel Mill and Bank of Punjab.

TRG Pak Ltd remained the volume leader with 17.95 million shares with an increase of 35 paisas to Rs30.57/share. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 11.33 million shares with an increase of Rs1.40 to Rs45.40/share. Shares’ turnover in the future contracts rose to 48.96 million shares from 35.12 million shares traded in the previous session.​