Stocks inch up in lacklustre trade, await bailout for direction

Stocks on Friday came to a dull end after trading in a tight range as all eyes are set on the approval of bailout package, expected next month, which would finally draw the curtain on the economic reforms the government has to carry out in the next fiscal year to satisfy International Monetary Fund, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporations said stocks showed late session recovery at the PSX led by selected oil, banking, and fertiliser scrips on strong valuations. “Rupee stability against dollar, higher global crude prices, upbeat data on external account and home remittances during May 2019 and expected launch of Rs200 billion energy sukuk next week to resolve circular debt crises led to a bullish close,” Mehanti added.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index gained 0.37 percent or 129.34 points to close at 35,125.25 points level, whereas KSE-30 shares index ended 0.52 percent or 86.04 points higher to end at 16,631.77 points level.

Of 313 active scrips, 122 moved up, 170 retreated, and 21 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 129.305 million shares, as compared to the turnover of 163.028 million shares in the previous session.

Samiullah Tariq, director research at Arif Habib Corporation, said the market gained on back of attractive valuations and higher global oil price supported the local oil scrips. Moreover, the mostly free-of-surprises federal budget boosted investor confidence, encouraging participation and helping the market score gains, Tariq said.

The momentum at the stock market was rather slow because of the weekend, while are investors waiting for some positive development for a sentimental boost. The slower trend could easily be gauged by the fact that several big ticket stocks showed meager performances, while some major upward movement was recorded in the oil and gas and oil marketing companies.

The main reason for the upward movement in Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Pakistan State Oil and other companies stocks was an appreciation in crude oil price which in just single session climbed by more than $2 dollars a barrel.

WTI and Brent crude were trading over $57 and $65 per barrel respectively. The gain in crude oil stocks is likely to help local oil shares to trim their inventor losses, said a leading analyst.

The highest gainers were Unilever Foods, up Rs266 to close at Rs5,665/share, and Nestle Pakistan, up Rs148 to finish at Rs6,848/share.

Companies that booked highest losses were Siemens Pakistan, down Rs27 to close at Rs593/share, and Colgate Palmolive, down Rs25 to close at Rs2075/share.

Summit Bank recorded the highest volumes with a turnover of 19.154 billion shares. The bank’s scrip gained Rs0.01 to close at Rs0.66/share.

The lowest volumes were witnessed in Unity Foods Limited recording a turnover of 3.244 million shares, whereas the scrip lost Rs0.10 to end at Rs10.70/share.