Daily Times

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) drove north on the first trading session of the week, as it took off with a promising preceding week. The KSE 100 Index surged over 700 points to close at the 41,644.88 level.

The major buying spree was led by mutual funds and companies as Irfan Saeed, senior vice president BMA capital management, said the funds raked in stocks worth $2.1 million and companies bought $5.6 million worth of shares, as the funds and companies aspire to quintessentially boost their profits for the year end to lift their books for the next year. He adds that the rally will continue till the year end , and thus the market will keep recording promising gains.

Appreciating by 782.45 points, the KSE 100 Index drove up to its intraday high at 41,699.04. It ended higher by 728.29 points at 41,644.88. The KMI 30 Index surged by 2.55pc or 1,661.71 points to close at 66,811.60, while the KSE All Share Index accumulated 551.75 points, settling at 29,871.91. Out of the total traded shares, 255 advanced, 100 declined while the value of 22 remained unchanged.

The overall market volume was recorded at 357.79 million, while the total traded value stood at Rs13.99 billion. All Share Volume increased by 87.08 million to 357.79 million shares. Market Cap increased by Rs 148.71 billion.

Sectors that propped up the benchmark KSE-100 Index included oil and gas exploration adding 221.40 points, banking gained 162.38 points and cement added 57.04 points. Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Limited added 96.84 points, Habib Bank Limited gained 79.36 points and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited contributed 66.07 points and remained the top contributors to the index.

The volume was led by Hascol Petroleum Limited Right Shares Unity Foods Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited were the volume leaders of the day, exchanging 53.28 million, 31.39 million and 16.07 million shares, respectively. Meanwhile, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has imposed Rs 75 million fine on the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) for being involved in “anti-competitive market practices”.

According to a statement issued by the commission on Monday, “PFMA violated Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010, by ‘fixing the price of wheat flour’, providing a platform to share commercially sensitive information and fixing the quantities of production.”

Taking notice of various media reports that signalled towards an unusual price hike in the prices of wheat flour across the country, the CCP had carried out dawn raid of PFMA premises, the statement read.

“The inquiry in the matter concluded that PFMA is providing a platform to its members to settle wheat flour prices so that any form of competition could be avoided. This is in violation of Section 4 of the Act.”

In Asia: Stock market were trading mix amid mixed sentiments over US- China trade deal and China’s industrial output data.

The Shanghai composite rose 0.56% to 2,984.39, as the Shenzhen component jumped 1.54% to 10,158.24 and Shenzhen composite bounced 1.56% to 1,686.41, as data showed that the country’s industrial output and retail sales rose more than expected in November. The country’s industrial production rose 6.2% year-on-year in November, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, above the forecasted5.0% growth. Retail sales rose 8.0% year-on-year, also above expectations of a 7.6% growth.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index however, was down 0.34% despite , Sunny Optical soared 2.66%, while AAC Tech jumped 1.51%. South Korea’s LG Display bounced 2.51%.during its last hour of trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 0.29% to 23,952.35 after a strong rally on Friday .Over in South Korea, the Kospi edged down 0.10% to 2,168.15.

Asian markets were majorly driven by US and Chinese phase one agreement after a contentious 18-month trade war. China agreed to billions of dollars in agricultural purchases from the US, while US President Donald Trump vowed to not pursue a new round of tariffs that had been scheduled for Sunday. The two major economies plan to sign the partial accord in the first week of January.