Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed another bullish session Thursday. The benchmark KSE-100 index crossed 51,400 points psychological level for the first time in its history and closed at new high of 51,426.01 points with a net increase of 322.48 points. The market opened on strong positive note and the index hit 51,508.68 points intra-day high. However, the index could not sustain this level due to profit-taking in select stocks in late hours.
Trading activity also improved significantly as daily trading volumes on the ready counter increased to 397.509 million shares as compared to 334.725 million shares traded Wednesday. The market capitalization increased by Rs 69 billion to Rs 10.136 trillion. Out of total 386 active scrips, 239 closed in positive, 133 in negative while the value of 14 stocks remained unchanged.
Summit Bank was the volume leader with 31.235 million shares. It gained Re 1.00 to close at Rs 6.30 followed by WorldCall Telecom that lost Rs 0.17 to close at Rs 2.89 with 24.873 million shares. Dewan Cement increased by Rs 0.96 to close at Rs 27.81 with 20.526 million shares. Nestle Pakistan and Sapphire Textile were the top gainers with Rs 200.00 and Rs 58.00, respectively to close at Rs 9,800.00 and Rs 2,198.00. Bata Pak and Sapphire Fiber were the top losers with Rs 200.00 and Rs 50.00 to close at Rs 3,800.00 and Rs 1,330.00.
Arhum Ghous at JS Global Capital said that positivity prevailed in the market during most part of the day as KSE-100 index gained around 322 points, closing at 51,426 level. Optimism was driven on account of investor interest accumulating in potential MSCI EM stocks. The major index movers were OGDC (up 2.40 percent), LUCK (up 1.79 percent), MARI (up 3.51 percent), POL (up 2.26 percent) and HBL (up 0.52 percent) as they cumulatively contributed 162 points to the index. On the flipside, UBL (down 1.35 percent), NRL (down 2.56 percent) and BAHL (down 1.01 percent) were the major laggards of the index. Major contribution to the index came from E&P sector as oil prices edged higher, extending their biggest one day jump since December. OGDC, POL and PPL (up 2.59 percent) were major gainers of the aforementioned sector. Growth was also witnessed in the Steel sector with INIL (up 5 percent), ISL (up 1.85 percent) and ASL (up 0.91 percent) closing in green zone. Moreover, confidence was recouped in the Cement sector where buying was witnessed in DCL (up 3.58%), LUCK and CHCC (up 0.61 percent).
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 opened on a strong note, gaping up as oil majors were bid up in pre-market activity given overnight gains in crude. Drawdown in US stockpiles beat estimates & helped prices soar, with WTI gaining $2 trading above $48/bbl. Further, settlement of Dawn Leaks lifted sentiments and helped sustain gains which push the index to another all time high closing. E&P's (up 136 points) were clear winners here as OGDC, PPL, MARI and POL gained between 2.3-3.5 percent, while LUCK (up 1.8 percent) snuck in the top 5 as well to add 45 points. Conversely UBL (down 1.4 percent), NRL (down 2.6 percent), BAHL (down 1.0 percent), BATA (down 5.0 percent) KTML (down 1.2 percent), shed 68 points off the index.
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