Share market climbs up by 953 points on rate cut hopes

Share market climbs up by 953 points on rate cut hopes

KARACHI: The share market made sharp gain of 953 points on Thursday owing to expected rate cut and reports of ease in lockdown.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,112 points as against 33,159 points showing an increase of 953 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that just before the long weekend, the market went north today with a jump of 1020 points during the session, closing +953 points, courtesy of rising crude oil prices, expectation of rate cut and relaxation in lockdown.

Activity was observed across the board, with major contribution from oil and gas stocks i.e. E&P, OMCs, with OGDC, PPL and POL hitting upper circuits and realizing high volume trades at that level.

Banking sector stocks remained relatively muted, whereas Cement, Fertilizer and Steel sectors made considerable stride forward.

Cement sector topped the chart with 53.6 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (45 million) and Cable (28.1 million).

Among scrips, HASCOL ranked first with 37.6 million shares, followed by PAEL (26.9 million) and MLCF (25.8 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+308 points), Banks (+137 points), Power (+94 points), Fertilizer (+87 points) and O&GMCs (+84 points).

Volumes increased from 140.5 million shares to 291.5 million shares (+107 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 61 percent to reach US$ 76.7 million as against US$ 47.6 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, PAEL, MLCF, PPL and UNITY, which formed 42 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include OGDC (+105 points), PPL (+93 points), HUBC (+82 points), POL (+64 points) and MCB (+50 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PAKT (-12 points), DAWH (-11 points), PSEL (-9 points), SYS (-3 points), and PMPK (-2 points).