Bullish spell deepens

A bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and the benchmark KSE-100 gained another 351.01 points to close at the level of 49,364.83 points Friday. The daily trading volumes increased to 459.724 million shares as compared to 456.497 million shares traded Thursday. The market capitalisation increased by Rs 75 billion to Rs 9.904 trillion. Out of total 425 active scrips, 262 closed in positive, 154 in negative while the value of 9 stocks remained unchanged.
Telecard was the volume leader with 49.057 million shares. It gained Rs 0.40 to close at Rs 5.55 followed by Faysal Bank that declined by Rs 1.37 to close at Rs 27.11 with 29.823 million shares. TRG Pak increased by Rs 0.46 to close at Rs 50.63 with 19.036 million shares.
Bata Pak and Pak Tobacco were the top gainers with Rs 198.79 and Rs 59.15, respectively to close at Rs 4,190.99 and Rs 1,385.00. Wyeth Pak and Unilever Pak were the top losers with Rs 92.51 and Rs 50.00, respectively to close at Rs 4739.99 and Rs 5,900.00. Nabeel Haroon a JS Global Capital said that the market extended its previous day's gains as the index increased by around 351 points to close at 49,365 level. INIL, ISL and ASL in the steel sector gained to close on their respective upper circuits for the second consecutive day on the back of the news that NTC has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on dumped imports of cold rolled coils/sheets from China and Ukraine in the range of 13-19 percent. CHCC in the cement sector gained 4.22 percent on the back of announcement by the company that its second line of manufacturing along with its waste heat recovery plant has commenced operation at its existing location at Nowshera, KPK province. Investor interest was seen in the pharmaceutical sector, as it gained to close 2.9 percent higher than its previous day close. SAPL and ABOT were major gainers of this sector and increased by 1.61 percent and 3.57 percent respectively. Top index influencers were HUBC, up 1.69 percent, UBL, up 1.21 percent and OGDC, up1.21 percent.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that stocks closed bullish led by selected auto and cement stocks amid speculations ahead of major earning announcements due next week. The recovery in global crude prices invited mid- session support in oil stocks. Likely formal approval of fertilizer subsidies for 2017, speculations on positive outcome of PM Rs 180 billion exports package on textile and cement sectors and FM visit at PSX to attend signing ceremony of share purchase agreement for divestment of PSX strategic sale played a catalyst role in positive close.