Daily Times

Pakistan stock exchange benchmark Kse-100 index kick-started another week with a bang, as index climbed 428 points to clock at 36,618.57 points on Monday to mark the rally for 12th consecutive session. The bull-run resumed at the bourse after index witnessed a day of consolidated on Friday, following a record breaking 10 session rally.

The Kse-100 continued its upward rally, taking cumulative increase to 8.63% in the last 12 trading sessions. Construction and steel sector remained the investor’s center of attention after Prime Minister Imran Khan made another move to revive covid-19-hit economy with an initiative to promote the housing and construction sector with Rs330 billion of mortgage financing by the commercial banks in just 18 months. Under the initiative, the commercial banks would allocate 5% of their portfolio amounting to Rs330 billion for the construction activities. Investors cheered the announcement thus led fresh rally into all the sectors related to construction sector. Moreover Investors were also swayed by government’s allocation of Rs30 billion subsidy for Naya Housing Program wherein each first 0.1 million unit would get 0.3mn subsidy.

The major buying spree was led by individuals who were net buyers of $7.6 million worth of shares, followed by Brokers with $1.3 million worth of shares, and Mutual Funds with $0.9 million worth of shares.

On Monday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index started the day on a positive note and touched an intra-day high at 36,722.13 points after gaining 531.73 points. The Kse-100 closed at 36,190.40 points on Friday. The total volume traded for the index increased from to 189.99 million shares in the previous session to 324.38 million shares on Monday. While the all share volume also jumped from 292.71 million shares in the previous session to 468.91 million shares.

The volume chart was led by Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited followed by Pak Elektron Limited and TRG Pakistan Limited. The scrips exchanged of 76.45 million, 21.92 million, and 21.22 million shares, respectively.

Sectors, which continue to lift the index, included Cement with 163 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 56 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 50 points, Commercial Banks with 37 points and Automobile Assembler with 31 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by Lucky Cement Limited which contributed 57 points followed by Pakistan State Oil with 42 points, D.G. Khan Cement Company Limited with 34 points, Meezan Bank Limited with 21 points and Cherat Cement Company Limited with 19 points.

However, Sector wise, Power Generation & Distribution sector led the losses and dented the index with 9 points, followed by Miscellaneous with 7 points, Insurance with 6 points, Tobacco with 6 points and Leather & Tanneries with 3 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Pakistan Services Limited which stripped the index of 7 points followed by EFU General Insurance Limited with 6 points, Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited with 6 points, Hub Power Company Limited with 5 points and Bank Of Pakistan with 5 points.

Global markets: Global stocks recovered across the board as investors shrugged off latest resurgence of Covid-19. Investors are betting on the revival of economic activity over easing of covid-19 lockdown as well as approaching results season. However, the markets were primarily buoyed after German biotech company BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced that two of their experimental vaccines to treat Covid-19 had been granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ‘fast track’ designation.

In Europe, basic resources added led the gains as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory. French benchmark CAC-40 traded 1.33% higher while UK’s FTSE-100 index climbed 1.21%. In Germany, DAX also edged higher by 1.05%.

In Asia markets climbed across the region as most of the stocks attracted fresh rally. The strong rally followed despite escalating Sino-U.S tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said that the relationship between Washington and Beijing has been “severely damaged” by the Covid-19 pandemic. Following Trump’s comments, the U.S. also issued an advisory asking its citizens to “exercise increased caution” in China due to a “heightened risk of arbitrary detention.”

In the region, Nikkei 225 in Japan led the gains and rose 2.22% to close at 22,784.74 as shares of conglomerate Softbank Group and robot maker Fanuc jumped 4.23% and 3.24%, respectively. While, Chinese stocks continued the bull-run and remained the biggest gainers regionally on the day, as the benchmark index Shanghai composite closed 1.77% higher to around 3,443.29. South Korea’s Kospi index also gained 1.67% to close at 2,186.06. In Hong Kong, Hang Seng index reported muted gains, with shares of HSBC surging around 3%.

The gains of the index were dented following rising political noise following sweeping new national security law in the global financial hub.

In U.S, Wall Street continues a cautious course and recorded a volatile session. But, the Stocks rallied building on last week’s strong rally, as investors looked past record numbers in coronavirus cases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked 350 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 gained 1.1% and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.4%. The Nasdaq-100 in its earlier session surged 1.6% to break above 11,000 for the first time.

The major rally was led by tech giants, which continue to exhibit their resilience against coronavirus crisis. Apple, Amazon and Netflix were among the major winners on the day.