Stocks surge on rupee strength; ‘Darnomics’ cheered

Stocks on Monday bounced back with rupee, amid bets that Darnomics, the economic policies of former finance minister Ishaq Dar, would somehow steer the country out of the escalating crisis, traders said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Shares Index gained 531.33 points or 1.31 percent to 41,151.54 points after testing a day high of 41,196.63 and a low of 40,418.97 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp credited the bullish activity to a strong rupee recovery and the decision to bring in PML-N economic wizard Ishaq Dar as the new finance minister, which as per market buzz, raised hopes of economic turnaround.

Expectations of exit from FATF’s grey list next month and hopes of likely IMF, ADB, and friendly countries' financial support for flood losses supported the market, he said. The KSE-30 index also gained 206.94 points or 1.36 percent to 15,419.88 points.

Traded shares increased by 48 million shares to 213.024 million shares from 165.291 million shares. The trading value rose to Rs9.516 billion from Rs6.873 billion. Market capital expanded to Rs6.761 trillion from Rs6.689 trillion. Out of 326 companies active in the session, 224 closed in the green, 79 in the red and 23 remained unchanged.

Topline Securities in a post-market note said declining international commodity prices and strengthening rupee led the market to make an intraday high of 576 points.

TRG remained under the spotlight as it contributed 97 points to the index, while HUBC jumped 5.56 percent on hopes of dividends. Cement sector was also in high demand as LUCK, CHCC, PIOC, DGKC, and MLCF closed higher.

The highest increase was recorded in share prices of Premium Textile, which rose by Rs55.89 to Rs854.89 per share, followed by Pakistan Tobacco, which increased by Rs55 to Rs845 per share. Nestle Pakistan suffered worst losses, as it parted with Rs105 to end at Rs5,600 per share, followed by Sapphire Textile down Rs69.26 to Rs1,104.74 per share.

In its post-session analysis report, Arif Habib Ltd said the market opened in the positive zone as rupee made a sharp recovery against the dollar.

“Investors gained confidence from the clarity on the political grounds. As a result of improved participation, volumes swelled in the main board,” the brokerage said, adding that turnover also surged in the 3rd tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance include technology (+111.8pts), power (104.4pts), cement (78.9pts), OMCs (+34.8pts), and banks (+33.5pts).

TRG Pakistan Ltd topped the volume chart with 27.472 million shares. It rose Rs8.60 to Rs126.65 per share. Cnergyico PK was the second most traded stock with 17.366 million shares. It closed higher by 12 paisas to end at Rs4.93 per share.

Other stocks that posted significant turnover included Unity Foods Ltd, K-Electric Ltd, WorldCall Telecom, Pakistan Refinery, Maple Leaf Cement, Fauji Cement, Hub Power Co, and TPL Properties. Turnover in the futures contracts more than doubled to 142.858 million shares from 68.338 million.