Bears were defeated in Friday’s trading session despite of tension in the political environment as market witnessed major recovery. Market opened positive and touched a high of +362 points as institutional participation was witnessed mainly in the blue chip stocks.
Market remained positive throughout the day and closed at 37,131 points level. Positive sentiments in the market can be attributed to attractive valuations of the KSE-100 index stocks.
Overall volumes stood at 144 million shares, while value traded stood at US$37 million. Buying was largely driven by value hunters with cements heavyweights Lucky (+5%%), DG Khan Cement (+5%), Chitral Cement Company (CHCC) (+5%) and Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) (+5%) leading the charts by contributing +79 points to the index. Engro (+0.1%) declared its first quarter 2019 result, where the company posted an EPS of Rs 7.66 and cash payout of Rs7.0/per share.
Bank ALflah Limited (BAFL) (+0.5%) from the banking space declared its first quarter 2019 result, where the bank posted an EPS of Rs1.79. From the cement sector Lucky Cement (+5%) & Pioneer Cement (PIOC) (+5%) declared their result for nine months FY19 where the companies posted EPS of Rs25.65 and Rs3.63, respectively.
Moreover Oil Gas Development Company (OGDC) (+0.8%) from the Exploration and Production (E&P) sector declared its nine months 2019 result where the company posted an EPS of Rs19.84 and cash payout of Rs.2.75/per share.
Maaz Mulla, an equity analyst, expects the market to remain volatile ahead and recommend investors to stay cautious in the short run ahead of International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting.