LAHORE: Pakistani equities soared today and the market rejoiced with a ‘hail Miftah’ where Tuesday’s appointment of Miftah Ismail as a federal minister and adviser to Prime Minister on finance, revenue and economic affairs was taken as a positive step by the government, albeit chatter of year-end window dressing also did the rounds.
The KSE 100 index gained 1.6 per cent or 621 points and closed above the 40,000 mark after spending 16 past sessions in sub 40,000 zone. It remained in the green zone throughout the session and recorded an intraday high of 40,160.47 with a rise of 634.72 points. The index settled higher at 40,146.73, while volumes rose 12 per cent with a traded value up 30 per cent. The market volumes hit 199.34 million, a rise from 177.65 million in the last session.
The KMI 30 index put up a good show too with bulls targeting cements at low prices. It jumped 2.16 per cent to end at 68,402.62. The KSE All Share index was up 331.47 points. Meanwhile, the advancers to decliners ratio stood at 223 to 119.
Steel and cement emerged as favourites again; with all four KSE 100 engineering stocks (ISL, INIL, ASTL & CSAP) hitting their upper limits, while 6 out of 9 KSE 100 Cement companies hit their upper circuits as valuations now seemed more attractive.
Top 10 index point contributors were LUCK (+5 per cent), PPL (+3 per cent), OGDC (+2.4 per cent), UBL (+1.7 per cent), DGKC (+5 per cent), ENGRO (+1.6 per cent), MCB (+1.2 per cent), FFC (+1.9 per cent), SEARL (+4.1 per cent) and FCCL (+5 per cent); adding 342 points. Sector wise; cements added 142 points, E&Ps added 132 points as international oil prices skirted $ 60/bbl, banks 81 points, fertilizers 72 points and engineering 42 points.
Pakistan’s fertilizer urea sales for November were down 21 per cent to 602,000 tonnes; urea fertilizer sales 602,000 tonnes compared to 764,000 tonnes last year. DAP sales decline 20.5 per cent to 502,000 tons compared to 631,000 tonnes same period last year.
