Stocks at 8-month high; SC order on extension spurs buying

Stocks on Thursday hit an eight-month high after army chief’s extension controversy came to an end, spurring investors to hunt bargains with most of the shares, especially blue chips, closing at their upper circuits, dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) KSE-100 shares index recovered 1.53 percent (583.55 points) to close at 38,706.27 points, while KSE-30 index was up 1.48 percent (259.35 points) to close at 17,782.52 points.

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said, “Market witnessed positive investor sentiment as the Supreme Court announced a short order on the case pertaining to the extension/reappointment of Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, whereby the government has been granted six months to pass legislation and issue an amended notification in this regard”.

“Going forward we expect the market to remain positive; however, investors are recommended to book profits on strength,” Mulla said.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said a partial settlement to the controversy regarding chief of army staff’s extension in service helped index recover, as investors (largely individuals and corporates) had been buying the dips since last week.

“The market opened on a positive note and hit a high of 724 points with activity seen across the board, especially in cement and banking stocks.”

Profit-booking pared the early gains bringing the index down to 584 points by the closing, the analyst added. As many as 396 scrips were active today. Of which 316 gained, 64 lost and 1 was unchanged.

Turnover swelled to 348.526 million shares against 228.419 million a day earlier. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed bullish amid higher trades as investor largely remained upbeat on economic and political stability.

“Speculations on settlement of army chief matter, surging global crude oil prices, and hopes for impact of surge in remittances amid new incentives to overseas nationals kept the ball rolling forward at the apex bourse,” Mehanti said.

Bata Pakistan, up Rs84.26 to close at Rs1,769.63/share, and Wyeth Pakistan, up Rs41.55 to close at Rs872.68/share, were among the top gainers, while Philip Morris Pakistan, down Rs47 to close at Rs2,270/share, and Bhanero Textile, down Rs25 to end at Rs800.01/share, lost the most.

Investor’s interest was seen in the cements, banking and exploration and production sector. Being the major gainers, DG Khan Cement was up 3.1 percent, Maple Leaf Cement 5 percent, Lucky Cement 2.5 percent, National Bank 5 percent, Meezan Bank 1.9 percent, United Bank 1.3 percent, Pakistan Oilfields 1.4 percent, while Oil & Gas Development Company gained by 0.7 percent.

Unity Foods with a turnover of 20.423 million shares was the highest volume-maker of the day in terms of trade, while it gained 43 paisas to close at Rs13.42/share. With a turnover of 19.77 million shares, Pak Elektron was second and it ended Rs1.25 higher to close at Rs26.65/share.

TRG Pakistan was third with a turnover of 15.78 million shares. The company gained 38 paisas to finish at Rs23.26/share at the end of the day.