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Thursday March 28, 2024

Stocks join global rally amid upbeat FATF outlook

By Our Correspondent
February 26, 2021

KARACHI: Shares on Thursday joined a global surge, stoked by a slew of rewarding results and bets on a favourable FATF outcome, dealers said.

KSE-100 Shares Index gained 1.33 percent or 603.05 points to close at 45,965.63 points at Pakistan Stock exchange (PSX); however, turnover eased to 468.97 million shares from 557.5 million on Wednesday.

Topline Securities in its daily market review said taking cue from international equity markets the index opened on a positive and continued to trade in the green.

“News reports that Pakistan and India have agreed to enforce 2003 ceasefire and stop cross border firing in Kashmir also came as a sentiment booster,” the brokerage said.

KSE-30 shares index also rose 1.67 percent or 314.87 points to close at 19,199.15 points.

Muhammad Saeed Khalid at Shajar Capital said investors remained bullish, while foreign buying was also witnessed ahead of FATF meeting announcement.

The index performed mainly on some higher-than-expected results announced by some food and textile industries, Khalid said.

Arsalan Soomro at KASB Securities said the market had been choppy over last few days despite promising corporate results.

“Investors are also shy of the outcome of Senate elections as opposition has hinted of a "surprise" in numbers. Reduced number of PTI legislators can make it difficult for PTI to enact reforms required by multilateral lenders,” Soomro said.

On the banking side, Moody's expects pressure on 2021 profitability amid narrower net interest margins and ongoing asset quality decline.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said market cheered UBL’s financial results that came with a dividend of Rs9.5/share, announced in the pre-open session.

Sentiment remained buoyed throughout the session and price gains were observed across the board, the analyst added.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks showed across the board recovery led by bull-run in global equities and crude oil markets.

Record receipts in Roshan Digital Accounts, rupee recovery, upbeat data on oil, cement, fertilisers and auto sales, and speculations ahead of FATF decision to exclude Pakistan from grey list gave stocks a leg up, Mehanti added. Further, investors remained bullish on oil stocks owing to higher fuel prices and technology because of some recent positive updates.

Going forward, analysts expect the FATF decision to set the course for the market, expected to perform well in case Pakistan gets out of the grey list or receives positive comments from the FATF board.

Rafhan Maize, up Rs488 to close at Rs10,200/share, and Nestle Pakistan up Rs64.62 to close at Rs6,204.62/share, were the top two gainers of the day.

Highest losses were suffered by Philip Morris Pakistan, which lost Rs69.9 to close at Rs1,330/share, and Sapphire Textile that shed Rs59 to end at Rs1,000/share.

Telecard Limited with a turnover of 36.199 million shares was the volume leader of the day. The scrip gained Rs1.0 to close at Rs7.88/share.

Byco Petroleum was second highest traded stock with 34.59 million shares. It gained 35 paisas to close at Rs10.39/share.

Unity Foods was third as it saw its 33.17 million shares changing hands on Thursday, while it gained 91 paisas to finish at Rs32.95.