Stocks snap back on late value buying

Stocks rebounded on Wednesday on late value-buying after mostly moving both ways through the day primarily for the lack of notable developments on the economic front, traders said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Shares Index gained 240.08 points or 0.55 percent to close at 43,676.56 points after swaying between a high of 43,734.33 and a low of 43,384.34 points.

Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks rose amid higher trades led by second- and third-tier scripts on strong valuations.

“Upbeat data on LSM growth at 11.7 percent, strong financial results in the oil sector, and the finance minister’s hints that next IMF tranche was due next month contributed to the positive trade.”

However, mid-session pressure remained on weak global crude oil prices, falling rupee and weak remittance inflows during July 2022, Mehanti added.

The KSE-30 Shares Index also jumped 100.80 points or 0.61 percent to 16,532.20 points.

Traded shares increased by 89 million to 607.995 million from 518.045 million shares. The trading value decreased to Rs11.129 billion from Rs16.215 billion. Market capital slightly improved to Rs7.269 trillion from Rs7.254 trillion.

Turnover in the futures’ contracts decreased to 119.065 million shares from 129.459 million.

Out of 356 companies active in the session, 153 closed in the green, 171 in the red, while 32 remained unchanged.

Topline Securities said during another mixed session, the benchmark index made an intraday high at 43,736 (+300 points; up 0.69 percent) and an intraday low at 43,390 (-47 points; down 0.11 percent) before eventually settling at 43,677 (+240 points; up 0.55 percent) for the day.

Banks and E&P stocks contributed negatively to the index where NBP, POL, OGDC, MCB, and HBL, lost 79 points, cumulatively, while SYS, LUCK, and KEL added 174 points collectively.

The highest increase was recorded in the shares of Sanofi-Aventis, which rose by Rs50 to Rs1,540/share, followed by Systems Limited, which increased Rs21.38 to Rs382.82 per share.

A significant decline was noted in shares of Rafhan Maize, which fell by Rs200 to Rs10,200 per share, followed by Nestle Pakistan XD, which decreased by Rs150 to Rs6,000 per share.

JS Research in a note said technology and cement sectors witnessed good participation by investors while the E&P sector was hit by profit taking during the day.

“Going forward, the upcoming monetary policy and IMF's board meeting will remain key driving forces for the market. We recommend investors to adopt a buy-on-dips strategy in tech, E&P and cement sectors,” the brokerage advised.

K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 209.086 million shares. The stock increased 43 paisas to Rs3.73 per share. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 53.211 million shares, which closed lower by one paisa to Rs1.30 per share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Hascol Petrol, PIAC. (A), Flying Cement, Nishat ChunPow, PTCL, Cnergyico PK, Telecard Limited and Unity Foods Ltd.