The weekened worries were totally ignored by punters on Friday as they placed fresh deals in the oil, gas marketing and exploration companies, sailing the market above the 11,400 level, whereas cautious approach from seasoned investors reduced the daily turnover.
The KSE 100 opened on a positive note and remained positive for the first two hours of trading after which it faced weakness as the first session came to a close. However, the second session saw another bull-run as investors showed renewed buying interest and pushed the index up by 1.6 percent, or 181 points, to close at 11460.
Volumes fell by 3.4 percent to 395 million from 409 million of Wednesday.
Ali Janjua from Atlas Investment Bank said that the market was predominantly weighed up by OGDC, which alone contributed 136 points to the index, followed by PPL and POL, which added 36 and 13 points, respectively. PPL closed at Rs 268.5 and POL at Rs 621. Cement sector also saw massive interest whereas the banking sector remained under pressure following the end of results season.
Saima Naz, research analyst at WE Financial Services, said that the rally was purely oil sectors-driven, where E & P surged considerably after the news of successful completion at Pindoli of 2,455 bpd of oil and 8.89 mmcfd of gas in which OGDC and POL hold the stake of 50 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
Mixed performance was seen in the cement sector. D G Khan Cement, Maple Leaf Cement and Pakistan Cement posted marginal declines to Rs 151.75, Rs 41.65 and Rs 17.20,respppppectively, while Lucky Cement increased by 2.9 percent to close at Rs 120.75.
Foreign selling took place in NBP, which was followed in other banks also, and investors diverted their investments from banks and cements to oil stocks. Bosicor closed limit-up on a newspaper report saying it has planned to enhance its production capacity.
Ali Raza, research analyst at First Capital Equities, said that market participants' enthusiasm in the E&P sector, in the course of new oil find and increases in oil well head price fuelled a fantastic rally north, which in turn created quite an upbeat sentiment. However, there seemed to be selling in the second- and third-tier stocks, indicating that many stakeholders might be exiting the market in those particular scrips, and as the future contract of March nears its end'.
Benchmark100 may witness further selling, which could bring in some volatility. Therefore, purchases on correction seem to be a better strategy along with profit and stop loss margin in mind. Overall, investor sentiment remains extremely positive and oil stocks are likely to drive the index above the 12000 points level in the coming week.
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