Daily Times

Bulls continue to withstand bears at Pakistan stock exchange as Kse-100 recorded another positive session after last week’s momentum. Optimism continues to sway investors’ sentiments as Kse-100 climbed another 151.39 points on Monday to clock at 35,202.77 points.

Investors welcomed the reduction in covid-19 cases in the country, allowing authorities to de-seal most of the areas. Moreover, market sentiments were further lifted after Pakistan Bureau of statistics (PBS) revealed Pakistan’s trade deficit contracted by 27.77% in eleven months (July to May) of the current fiscal year due to decline in exports as well in imports. According to PBS data, country’s trade deficit was recorded at $21.058 billion in July-May period of FY20 as compared to $29.154 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

On Monday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index started the day on a positive note and gained 187 points to touch an intraday high at 35,238.81. The index also touched intra-day low at 35,002.11 points. The Kse-100 closed at 35,051.38 points on Friday. The total volume traded for the index increased from 108.99 million shares from the previous session to 229.10 million shares, while the overall market participation also edge higher from 175.76 million shares on Friday’s session to 332.25 on Monday

The volume chart was led by TRG Pakistan, Pak Elektron Limited, and Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited. The scrips exchanged of 37.69 million, 37.66 million, and 30.84 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that lifted the index included Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 40 points, Cement with 34 points, Pharmaceuticals with 26 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 26 points and Automobile Assembler with 18 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index were by Pakistan Petroleum Limited which contributed 16 points followed by Pakistan State Oi with 16 points, Indus Motor Company Limited with 14 points, GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited with 10 points and TRG Pakistan Limited with 10 points.

The sectors which continued to weigh down the index included Investment Banks with 34 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 30 points, Fertilizer with 20 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by The Hub Power Company Limited which stripped the index of 40 points followed by Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited with 34 points, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 18 points, Bank Al Falah Limited with 7 points and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd with 6 points.

Global markets: Global stock markets witnessed fresh rally as major index witnessed a surge I marker participation amid easing of covid-19 scare. The sentiments were also lifted due to easing of lockdown, as hopes of revival of economic activity led the bullish trend.

In Asia, Stocks witnessed fresh rally as investors as optimism led fresh rally induced Bull Run. Shares in d China led the regional gains, as Shanghai composite soared 5.71% to close at around 3,332.8 points.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also witnessed robust gains and rose 3.81% on the day to 26,339.16, while in Japan Nikkei 225 jumped 1.83% to close at 22,714.44. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 1.65% to close at 2,187.93.

European stocks also recorded fresh gains on Monday as investors focused on the prospect of economic recovery and progress on potential coronavirus drugs, shrugging off concerns about a further acceleration of the pandemic. London’s FTSE-100 gained 1.67% while German DAX index climbed 1.68%. CAC-40 in France also edged higher by 1.51%. Banking stocks led a broad cyclical rally in the regional burses, with Commerzbank and Banco de Sabadell climbing 7.8% and 6.3% respectively.

In U.S, Wall Street continue to add gains following last week’s rally after sentiments were buoyed by better-than-expected U.S. jobs report as the economy tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Investors have welcomed a dip in unemployment level as a blue print for a fast economic recover after government reported that a record 4.8 million jobs were created in June, in comparison to Economists’ expectations of creation of 2.9 million jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 11.1% from 13.3% in May against economists’ expectation 12.4%. Moreover, the rally was majorly led by sectors that are expected to resuscitate over revival of economic activity as government ease lockdown restrictions. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 368 points, or 1.4%, while S&P 500 futures gained 1.5%. Tech heavy Nasdaq-100 futures surged 1.4%. The fresh rally followed wrap of market’s its best quarterly performance in decades. The Dow rallied more than 17% for the second quarter while the S&P 500 jumped nearly 20% in that time period. The Nasdaq posted a gain of 30.6% for the quarter.