STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI Bulls returned to the bourse on Friday as stocks rallied and the benchmark KSE-100 index soared 537 points. Following four bearish sessions, the stock market took a U-turn in the wake of a recovery in international crude oil prices. Moreover, renewed foreign investor interest and a strong economic outlook amid falling energy prices pushed the index up. After a brief open in the positive zone, the market fell, but robust investor sentiment took it again into the positive territory. The first session ended with a rise of over 500 points. The second session also opened positive and the rally continued, helping the market close with considerable gains. Overall, during the session, the graph see-sawed around the 30,000-point mark. At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 537.58 points, or 1.78%, to settle at 30,667.41. Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market carried the previous day’s momentum, when the bourse had largely recovered from sharp losses, and the index skyrocketed, rising around 800 points. It added that fertiliser, exploration and production and banking sectors turned out to be the major avenueswhereinvestors took keen interest. “Internationalcrude prices also went up overnight and traded +3% that helped explorationand production stocks hit their respective upper circuits,” the report said. “During the session, the index oscillated between -226 points and +798 points, closing up by 538 points. The cement sector topped the volumes with trading in 58.7 million shares, followedbybanks(31.1million) andpowercompanies (28.6million).” Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included K-Electric, Maple Leaf Cement, The Bank of Punjab, Fauji Cement and Unity Foods, which accounted for 34% ofthe total volumes. Meanwhile,stocksthatcontributed positively to the index were Engro (107 points), Habib Bank (106 points), OGDC (83 points), Pakistan Petroleum (83 points)andPakistanOilfields(52 points). JS Global analyst Maaz Mullasaid,“Bearsweredefeated asthemarketwitnesseda recovery. The benchmark index opened positive and touched a high of +798 points as institutional participation was seen mainlyinthemainboardstocks.” He stated the market remained mostlygreenthroughouttheday and closed at 30,667 (+538 points). “Positive sentiment can be attributed to attractive valuations of the KSE-100 index stocks.” Pakistan Petroleum (+7.5%), Pakistan Oilfields (+7.5%) and OGDC (+7.5%) fromtheexplorationandproduction sector hit their respective upper circuits as crude oil prices recovered in the international market. Selling pressure was witnessed in cement stocks among which DG Khan Cement (- 3.7%), Maple Leaf Cement (- 6.8%), Cherat Cement (-7.5%), Pioneer Cement (-7.5%) and KohatCement (-7.5%)closedin the red. “Going forward,weexpect themarketto remainbearishdue tothecoronavirussituationacross theglobe,andrecommendinvestors to remain cautious,” he added. Overall, trading volumes decreased to 245 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 308.3 million. The value of sharestradedduringthedaywas Rs8.5 billion. Shares of 344 companies weretraded.Attheendoftheday, 179 stocks closed higher, 152 declined and 13 remained unchanged. K-Electricwasthevolume leader with 23.4 million shares, losing Rs0.05 to close at Rs2.99.ItwasfollowedbyMaple Leaf Cement with 16.6 million shares,decliningRs1.48toclose at Rs20.21 and The Bank of Punjab with 15 million shares, gainingRs0.41tocloseatRs8.01. Foreign institutional investors werenetsellersofRs1.05 billion worth of shares duringthetrading session, according to data compiledbytheNationalClearing Company of Pakistan.
