Karachi: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a promising start to the day and closed the session on bullish note where KSE-100 Index gained 231 points to surge above 40,500 points to 40545.
Some profit taking was seen midday due to the news that accountability courts rejected finance minister’s request seeking exemption from court appearances and also ordering start of proceedings to declare him a fugitive.
“Stocks closed bullish on higher trades amid speculations in the post earnings season rally at PSX on strong earnings outlook.
Trade remained high in second tier scrips. Higher global crude prices, upbeat financial results in selected oil, banking and auto scrips played a catalytic role in higher close despite mid-session pressure on MSCI downgrades and $5.01 billion surging current account deficit for July-October 2017,” senior analyst Ahsan Mehanti commented.
Concerns about economy were somewhat allayed as government floated timeline of road shows for issuance of Eurobond/sukuk, while S&P also gave a “B” rating for Pakistan’s proposed foreign debt issuance, better than the “B-” for previous issues.
Top index point performers were MCB (+2.3 percent), OGDC (+1.7%), PPL (+1.1%), PAKT (+5%) & SNGP (+2.6%) contributing 126pts; while PSO (-1.6 percent), KAPCO (-0.5%), NCPL (-5%), NPL (-5%) and DAWH (-0.8%) withheld 40 points.
On the sectors front, banks added 78 points, exploration and production contributed 64 points and fertilizer 26 points; on the flip side, power held back 19 points as investors were concerned over news of shutdown of furnace oil based power plants.
Analysts said that they were recommending investors to stay sidelined and wait for clarity due to the prevailing political situation.
Published in Daily Times, November 22nd 2017.