KARACHI: The stock market made a recovery on Thursday amid higher trading on investor speculation ahead of key policy rate announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
An upbeat report by Moody’s rating agency on Pakistan’s recent mini-budget which provided support for exports and manufacturing, foreign inflows, surging global crude prices and the government’s drive to improve ease of doing business played the role of catalysts in the bullish close of the KSE-100 index.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 192.41 points, or 0.47%, to settle at 40,799.53.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the session on a positive note with the KSE-100 index gaining 192 points.
He said the index opened higher and continued on an upward trajectory, hitting a high of +254 points. Market volumes improved as total trading on the All-share Index touched 240 million shares, up 92% from the previous day, he added.
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (+7.7%), WorldCall Telecom (+10.4%) and Pak Elektron Limited (+2.6%) were the volume leaders with cumulative trading in 59 million shares.
On the news front, the SBP announced a 25-basis-point increase in the policy rate, taking it to 10.25%, effective February 1.
Lucky Cement (+0.3%) declared its 1HFY19 results where the company posted earnings per share (EPS) of Rs17.92 with no cash payout.
Moreover, Fauji Fertiliser Company (+1.2%) declared its results, announcing EPS of Rs12.92 and cash dividend of Rs3.9 per share, taking the final dividend to Rs8.85.
Engro Polymer and Chemicals (+0.8%) announced its financial results as well. The company recorded EPS of Rs6.21 and declared cash dividend of Rs0.3 per share.
“Going forward, we recommend investors to remain cautious and wait for clarity regarding the IMF package, however, one can reduce short-term positions on strength,” the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes increased to 239.5 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 125 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.75 billion.
Shares of 372 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 256 stocks closed higher, 98 declined and 18 remained unchanged.
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal was the volume leader with 31.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.9 to close at Rs12.64. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 15.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.17 to close at Rs1.81 and Pak Elektron with 12.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.69 to close at Rs27.65.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs468.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
