KARACHI: The stock market gained 442 points on Thursday despite political uncertainty due to Azadi March (protest relly) launched by JUI-F.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,204 points as against 33,761 points showing an increase of 442 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that despite the political uncertainty imbued by JUI (F)’s Azadi March (protest rally), market took rather positive cue from yesterday’s PIB auction.
The yields dropped further, especially in 10-year bond that cemented the view of rate cut in the coming monetary policy.
Announcement of next PIB’s auction before the next monetary policy also helped professional money managers take a view that the yields will drop further or at least maintain, which becomes the reason for reconversion of funds deployed in fixed income back to equities.
Buying activity was observed across the board, especially in E&P, Cement and Banking sectors, which kept the stock prices at high level.
The index moved uni-directional and made a high of 545 points, closing the session at +442 points. Technology sector realized trading volume of 31.4 million shares, followed by Cement (25.1 million) and Banks (20.2 million).
Among scrips, WTL again led the volumes with 24.2 million followed by BOP (9.1 million) and MLCF (8.5 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+113 points), E&P (+71 points), Fertilizer (+57 points), Cement (54 points) and Inv Banks (+47 points).
Volumes increased from 129.9 million shares to 183.9 million shares (+42 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 37 percent to reach US$ 44.1 million as against US$ 32.2 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, BOP, MLCF, PPL and STPL, which formed 30 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include ENGRO (+55 points), MCB (+51 points), DAWH (+45 points), PPL (+37 points) and PSO (+34 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PAKT (-32 points), NESTLE (-12 points), FFC (-11 points), MUREB (-5 points), and HASCOL (-3 points).
