Daily Times

Bulls continued to dominate Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the second day, as stocks extended their gains to lift benchmark kse-100 index by 445.12 points by the closing bell to cross 45,000 mark.

Senior Vice President, BMA Capital Management Limited, Irfan Saeed said that Friday’s gains were primarily linked to a technical bounce back as the index was projected to cross 45,200 level, but warned that technical correction can be witnessed in the next session, as profit taking is expected at this level. Mr Saeed, however added that the current uphill trajectory of the index can also be linked to upbeat investors sentiments, who are expecting strong financial results season, specifically for the cement and steel sector, which have witnessed a surge in dispatches and sales.

On Friday, the index touched intra high of 45,249.61 after it gained 508.25 points, before settling at 45,186.48 level. The volume at Kse-100 surged from 186 million shares recorded in the previous session to 293 million shares, while the all-share volume nearly doubled from 383 million shares recorded in the previous session to 688 million shares.

Market Cap increased by Rs.60.41 Billion, while total value traded increased by 7.37 Billion to Rs.25.34 Billion.

The volume chart was led by Worldcall Telecom Limited followed by Telecard Limited and Byco petroleum Pakistan Limited. The scrips exchanged 124.48 million, 60.2 million and 50.21 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net buyers of $2.88 million worth of equities. Local investors, however, were net sellers during the session, with Companies, Insurance Companies and Banks leading the buying chart, which mopped up $1.5 million, $1.1 million and $1.07 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Technology & Communication with 139 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 84 points, Cement with 51 points, Commercial Banks with 46 points and Textile Composite with 44 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan Limited which contributed 120 points followed by Habib Bank Limited with 29 points, Pakistan Oilfields Limited with 28 points, National Refinery Limited with 24 points and Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 22 points.

However, the sectors which dented the index were Fertilizer with 70 points, Investment Banks with 24 points, Automobile Assembler with 2 points, Tobacco with 1 point and Glass & Ceramics with 1 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 69 points followed by Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited with 28 points, Bank Al Habib Limited with 7 points, Indus Motors with 4 points and National Foods Limited with 4 points.

Weekly Review: Uncertainty prevailed amid Covid-19 fears

Stocks witnessed massive uncertainty during the week, owing to the alarming increase in COVID-19 cases and fear of new rounds of lockdown. The benchmark index, however, ended the week with a gain of 886 points.

The week opened on a bearish note with the benchmark index losing over 750 points as the country grappled with the worsening third wave of COVID-19. Investors feared the imposition of lockdowns as the average daily infections crossed the 3,500 mark.

The government’s decision to reconstitute the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) and the change of finance minister ahead of the budget season also dampened the investor sentiments. However, stocks witnessed a rebound by the end of the week amid technical recovery and expectations of strong corporate profitability in the upcoming result season. Improving pace of vaccine rollouts continued the upward stride of Pak Rupee against the US dollar and the extension in G20 debt relief till Dec’21 also lifted market sentiments.

Technology stocks stayed in limelight over the week, primarily due to the announcement by the Prime Minister to provide several incentives to the sector.

During the week, traded volumes increased by 9 percent to average at 410 million shares whereas traded value clocked-in at $122 million, posting 8 percent decrease.