Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)posted promising gains on Thursday,as equity investors witnessed a bullish momentum throughout the day. The benchmark kse-100 gained 406.50 points by the closing bell to clock at 43,766.69 index level.

On Thursday, the market witnessed value buying across the board. The bullish sentiments were primarily witnessed in Exploration &Production sector, which primarily lifted Oil& Gas Development Company Limited and Pakistan Petroleum Limited stocks, on the back of global oil price surge. The global benchmark Brent crude oil traded above $51.5/ barrel- levels not seen since the start of the pandemic on Thursday, as crude oil continue to go higher due to the shrinking value of U.S dollar and hopes of US stimulus package that is expected set-off global oil demand.

Among others, Banking and fertilizers stocks also performed well during the day. Fertilizers stocks were primarily lifted on the back of input tax adjustment, whereas late rally in HabibBank Limited saw the banking sector gain reasonable territory.

During the session, the index remained in the green throughout the day, registering intraday high at 43,793.22 after gaining 433.03 points.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL), foreign investors remained net sellers of worth 3.80 million worth of equities. While, among local investors, the selling table was led by Insurance companies which offloaded $0.51 million worth of equities, followed by other organizations which sold $0.38 million worth of equities. However, the buying table was led byCompanies which bought $1.58 million worth of equities, followed by Individuals which raked in $1.35 million worth of equities.

The volume at Kse-100 index partially increased from 252.47million shares from the previous session to 286.34millionshares, while the over-all market volumes also increased from 433 million shares in the previous sessionto 497.56million shares. The volume chart was led by Pakistan Refinery Limited followed by Pak Elektron Limited and K-Electric Limited. The scrips exchanged 45.13 million, 41.73 million and 29.03 million shares, respectively.

Sectors, which lifted the index were,Commercial Banks with 90 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 67 points, Fertilizer with 62 points, Cement with 30 points and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 26 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by HabibBank Limited which contributed 46 points followed by Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 33 points, ENGRO with 28 points, Oil &Gas Development Company Limited with 26 points and Engro Fertilizers Limited with 18 points.

However, the only sector which subdued the index wasTobacco with 4 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Hub Power Company Limited which stripped the index of 14 points followed by Bank Al HabibLimited with 4 points, Nishat Mills Limited with 4 points, Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited with 2 points andKohinoor Textile Mills Limited with 2 points.

Global Markets: US Fed’s Commitment to Support Economy lifts Stocks

Global stock markets climbed on Thursday after investors reacted to comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve that it will continue to support the economy.U.S. Federal Reserve said it will buy at least $120 billion of bonds each month “until substantial further progress has been made toward the Committee’s maximum employment and price stability goals.”Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also said on Wednesday that stock prices are not necessarily highly priced given how low interest rates are.

In Asia, most of the stocks advanced following an overnight bounce at Wall Street, as optimism grew over the prospect of more stimulus and US Fed statement.Among the major markets, Chinese stocks led the regional gains as benchmark index Shanghai composite jumped 1.13% to 3,404.87, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also rose about 0.82%, as of its final hour of trading. Following the trend, Japan’s Nikkei 225 also rose 0.18% by the closing bell. However, South Korea’s Kospi index bumped the trend and closed slightly lower at 2,770.43.

Following overnight positive trend at Wall Street and subsequently in Asian markets, European stocks also traded higher. On Thursday, The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4% by early afternoon, as basic resources and retail stocks added 1.5% to lead gains as almost all sectors and major bourses advanced. Among the major markets, Germany’s DAX and CAC-40 in France edged up and added 0.88% and 0.07%. However, UK’s FTSE-100 bumped the trend and closed fractionally lower.

In U.S, stocks at Wall Street posted record gains following US Fed’s statement and escalated hopes over US stimulus package. Congressional leaders on Wednesday closed in on a $900 stimulus package that would include direct payments to individuals.The measure would exclude liability protections for businesses as well as aid to state and local governments, as disagreements over those issues have been a stumbling block in the latest round of negotiations. The development on Stimulus package comes at a timewhen data showed on Thursday that the jobless claims totaled 885,000 last week, hitting their highest level since early September. Economists expected 808,000 workers sought state jobless benefits during the week ended December 12.

During the early trading hours, S&P 500 and tech heavyNasdaq Composite opened at record highs on Thursday, as both indexes gained 0.5% each. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also climbed 135 points. Among the stocks, utilities and materials were the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500, rising more than 1% each, while Apple stocks rose nearly 1% to lead the Dow higher.