KARACHI: Pakistan equities closed in the green on Monday after a long weekend as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 39 points to close at 40049. Stocks closed higher and were lead by auto, oil and cement scrips amid speculations ahead of release of PBS inflation data for November 2017. Strong institutional interest after government raised $2.5bn in Eurobonds and sukuk bond, upbeat data on autos for October 2017, rising local cement prices on CPEC gains & higher global crude oil prices, and robust financial results played a catalytic role in the higher close in oversold scrips, senior analyst, Ahsan Mehanti commented. The benchmark KSE-100 Index dipped towards 39,500/ 450 key support area near the weekly 144-days EMA where it found support that helped it bounce sharply towards the first tier descending resistance, thus forming a “hammer” candlestick pattern on its weekly time frame. This kept the bullish correctional wave and outlook intact for this week as long as this key support is holding, an analyst at Elixir Securities commented. On the upside, if resistance at 40,100 gives way, which is the base case, there will be further overhead resistance seen until 40,650. This area also coincides with 50% Fib resistance of 41,836/ 39,462 descend, adding more to its strength as a ceiling. Ability to hold onto this area would be a sign of continuation of bulls towards the next resistances at 41,400/ 500 levels. Stochastic and RSI were also on the move up from oversold region suggesting that buyers are taking control of the price action, the analyst added. On the flipside, a downturn from 40,650 resistance would expose supports at 39,851 (38.2% fib of 39,462/40,091 ascend) and 39,777 (50% fib of 39,462/ 40,091 ascend) while a break below this would re-test the former lows and dynamic support area at 39,500/ 450 levels. Below here, if seen, would be a sign of further bearish correction targeting the next supports at 39,200 and 38,550. On Monday, activity thinned from Thursday’s MSCI rebalancing act, volumes dried up 47% while traded value plunged 71%. SNGP (+3.5%) bounced back with a bang after fund managers panic sold on Thursday given weak understanding and uncertainty arising from OGRA s’ long term gas sector reforms. ATRL (+2.8%) also staged a recovery as anecdotal news regarding PSO’s (+1.2%) off?take of fuel oil and resumption of Attock Gen did the rounds again, analyst at Topline Securities said. Top index point contributors were OGDC (+2%), PPL (+1.2%), SNGP (+3.5%), LUCK (+1.2%) and UBL (+0.8%) adding 116 points; while HUBC (?2.6%), HBL (?0.8%), ENGRO (?1.1%), MCB (?1%) and TRG (?4.4%), held back 108 points. On the sectors front, E&Ps contributed 75 points as oil prices were back to 2?year highs as OPEC extended oil cuts through 2018, OMCs added 36 points, cement 32 points; while banks shed 46 points, power 42 points, fertiliser 26 points and techs 16 points. Published in Daily Times, December 5th 2017.