Daily Times

Bears ceded ground to bulls at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, as investors reacted to successful negotiation between the government and the protesting Tehreek e Labaik Pakistan, which sent signs of stability.

On the second trading session of the week, the benchmark KSE-100 opened on a positive note and touched intra-day high at 45,558.13 level after gaining 644.56 points. However, paring some early gains the index clocked at 45,399.78 level by the closing bell after posting a 486.21 points gain.

The sentiments were also lifted following the announcement of rollover of $2 billion from United Arab Emirates (UAE) and an 8% MoM increase in FDI in the month of March further fuelled the investors’ sentiments.

The UAE has rolled over a $2 billion loan it had provided to Pakistan as part of the financial bailout package after the PTI formed the government in August 2018. The loan was matured in March and the incumbent government was worried that like Saudi Arabia, the UAE might ask Pakistan to return the money. However, the official statement issued on Tuesday after talks between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan confirmed that the $2 billion loan had been rolled over.

During the session, the market also reacted to robust corporate earnings of Habib Bank Limited, Muslim Commercial Bank, Amreeli Steel Limited and International Steel .

Market Capital increased by Rs.84.76 billion, while total value traded increased by 1.49 billion to Rs.14.21 billion. The volume at KSE-100 dropped from 131 million shares recorded in the previous session to 128.39 million shares , while the all-share volume also reduced from 363 million shares recorded in the previous session to 343.28 million shares.

The volume chart was led by Worldcall Telecom Limited followed by Unity and Ghani Global Limited. The scrips exchanged 57 million, 30.64 million and 24.65 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net buyers of $0.78 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Individuals and Brokers led the buying chart, which mopped up $3.2 million, $1.36 million worth of equities.

However, the selling chart was led by Companies, Banks and Mutual Funds which offloaded $2.14 million, $2.13 million and $1.59 million worth of equities.

During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Technology & Communication with 121 points, Commercial Banks with 78 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 43 points, Cement with 37 points and Fertilizer with 35 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan which contributed 124 points followed by Habib Bank Limited with 36 points, UNITY with 25 points, Lucky Cement with 21 points and Colgate Pakistan with 20 points.

However, the sectors which dented the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 13 points and Refinery with 4 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Mari Petroleum Company Limited which stripped the index of 12 points followed by Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited with 11 points, Muslim Commercial Bank with 7 points, Pakistan Oilfields Limited with 6 points and National Refinery Limited with 3 points.