Stocks gain 379 points as banks cheer rate increase

Stocks gain 379 points as banks cheer rate increase

KARACHI: The stocks gained 379 points on Friday owing to major trading activity in banking sector on massive rise in interest rate by the central bank.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 46,489 points as compared with previous day’s closing of 46,110 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market mostly stayed in the green zone today mainly led by the banking sector.

In the first session, positive momentum was observed as investors became optimistic due to the Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) output number that increased by 5.15 percent in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 compared to the same period of last fiscal year 2021, as almost all major manufacturing sectors posted growth.

In the second session, profit booking was observed across the board after the Current Account Deficit (CAD) number clocked in at USD 1.7 billion during October 2021. On YoY basis, the primary reason behind the deficit was 66 per cent YoY increase in total imports to USD 6.8 billion.

On the institutional front, accumulation was witnessed in the banking stocks. Moving forward, Monetary Policy decision to raise the policy rate by 150 basis points to 8.75 per cent will create volatility in the upcoming roll-over week.

The Index closed at 46,489.4 points, up 378.9 points, (0.82 per cent DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (178.98 points), Fertilizers (102.24 points), E&Ps (68.03 points) and Cements (62.03ptc).

Volumes increased from 263.55 million shares to 304.21 million shares (15.4 per cent DoD) and Traded value also increased by 41.6 per cent to reach US$ 68.46 million as against US$ 48.35 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include GGL, SERF, FNEL, FFLR1 and WTL.