Stocks end higher led by cements, banks

KARACHI: Stocks on Monday rose on sporadic bargain-hunting in an oversold market, with banks and cements leading the rally, amid promising political and economic outlook, dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) KSE-100 shares index put on 0.76 percent or 286.49 points to close at 38,212.28 points, while KSE-30 index was flat with a gain of 0.67 percent or 116.69 points to close at 17,647.96 points. Of 386 active scrips, 248 advanced, 115 declined, and 23 remained unchanged.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said the stocks closed higher amid surge in global equities and institutional interest in cash-rich stocks after central bank announced a status quo in the policy rate decision last week.

“Higher global crude oil prices, easing political noise and likely resolution of the circular debt issue after power tariffs’ revision and approvals over bond issue contributed to the positive close,” Mehanti added.

The ready market volumes stood at 241.536 million shares as compared with 243.041 million shares a day earlier. Arif Habib Limited, a brokerage house, in a commentary noted the market was initially expected to face selling pressure in the wake of rollover week; however, Status Bank of Pakistan’s unchanged stance on monetary policy gave heart to investors, who were now betting on a rate-cut in early next calendar year.

Topline Securities in its market review said the stocks were bullish as central bank stayed the interest rate at 13.25 percent in its monetary policy on Friday after market hours. “Furthermore, foreign inflows in Treasury Bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds have amounted greater than $1 billion, which kept investor sentiment positive,” the brokerage said.

Companies reflecting highest gains include Unilever Foods, up Rs345 to close at Rs7,245/share, and Colgate Palmolive, up Rs60.02 to close at Rs2,000/share. Sapphire Fiber, down Rs20.5 to close at Rs502/share, and Service Industries, down Rs15.38 to end at Rs780/share, turned out to be the top losers.

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said bulls yet again reigned supreme at the market with the index touching a high of 367 points, finally closing 286 points up. “On the news front, a multi-party conference has been called by JUI-F (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal) to decide on the next course of action in the anti-government campaign by the opposition.”

“Moving forward, we expect market to remain positive; however we recommend investors to book profit on strength,” Mulla said.

A rally was witnessed in cements and banking sectors with Cherat Cement strengthening 5 percent, Pioneer Cement 4.9 percent, Lucky Cement 4.1 percent, while DG Khan Cement gained 2.7 percent.

Moreover, National Bank was up 2.5 percent, MCB 2.2 percent, Habib Bank 1.2 percent, and United Bank (UBL) closed 1.2 percent higher.

An upward movement was also seen in the auto sector where most of stocks closed higher than their previous day close.

Pak Elektron, with its 19.079 million shares changing hands, recorded the highest volumes and gained Rs1.14 to close at Rs24.63/share. Unity Foods with 18.62 million shares was second and gained Rs1.0 to close at Rs12.09/share. With a trading volume of 15.007 million shares, TRG Pakistan stood third, gaining 94 paisas to finish at Rs22.89/share.