Daily Times

The KSE-100 index recovered 200 points Tuesday after the downward spiral in previous trading session.

Recovery was made on back of multiple positive factors such as receipt of US$2.2 billion from china which has resulted in FX reserves rising to a double digit level after 8 months, arrival of International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief which is expected to bring clarity on IMF bailout package, and Supreme court decision to grant bail on medical grounds to former PM Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for 6 weeks which is expected to lower the current political noise in country, said an equity analyst at Top Line Research.

Initially the market lost ground in intraday trading by -89 points due to lack of positive triggers and investors’ concerns over economic slowdown. The benchmark KSE-100 index opened Tuesday’s trading session in the “green zone” and went on to make a high of 244 points taking the index to a level of 38,372, but similar to the past few trading sessions the market kept fluctuating, which later on resulted in the index to change its position to the “red zone” where the index made a low of -88 points, however due to this constant fluctuation the market was able to once again change its position from the “red” to the “green” and as the trading session came to an end the index showed immense recovery in points and went on to close off in the “green”, said an equity analyst at Trust Securities.

According to an equity analyst at IIS Securities, arrival of FATF affiliates to assess measures undertaken, growth outlook cut to an eight-year low by SBP, expectations of interest rate hike in the upcoming monetary policy and on-going roll over week are some of the reasons attributed to volatility witnessed Tuesday. Exploration and Productions (E&Ps), however, helped the market to close in a positive territory adding 101 points to the index.

E&Ps including OGDC (+2.7%) and PPL (+1.4%) contributed the most in terms of index points on rumours of optimism on offshoring drilling and increase in international oil prices. At 86 million shares traded, volumes posted a recovery of 53 percent over the last trading session. Major contributors to volumes include K-Electric (+1.1%), Oil Gas Development Company (OGDC) (+2.7%), Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL) (-2.5%) and Bank of Punjab (BOP) (-0.3%).