LAHORE: The KSE 100 index extended its rally from Tuesday’s session on the back of the depreciated rupee after the central bank decided to let the rupee slip 4 per cent against the US$, to settle at Rs115, with a cumulative depreciation at around 10 per cent.
Direct and indirect beneficiaries from a weaker rupee rallied again and contributed towards the KSE 100 index posting an intraday high of 44,840.69 (+1.2 per cent) before scaling back and closing at 44,645.95 up 336.21 points (+0.76 per cent). Market participation took a back seat with KSE 100 index volume and turnover staging a decline of 10.8 per cent and 25 per cent respectively day on day basis.
The rupee devaluation has been working for the market but foreign investors still closed as net sellers. They sold a net of $0.88 million on Wednesday. Local mutual funds came to the rescue and gathered equities worth a net of $5.45 million. Local individuals offloaded again like in the previous session, with net selling of $6.12 million.
A market report by IMS Securities noted that foreign investors in the United Kingdom and the United States of America in February 2018 suggested that they were looking for another +5 per cent move in the rupee before re-entering this market. The report further suggested that following Tuesday’s devaluation investor’s interest would be greatly alleviated and would potentially lead to Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflow.
Trading on Wednesday was mostly confined to financials (22.3 per cent of total turnover – down 22.8 per cent), materials (20.1 per cent of total turnover – down 39.8 per cent) and energy (16.9 per cent of total turnover – down 50.4 per cent). However, extraordinary market participation was seen in utilities (15.3 per cent of total turnover – up 68.4 per cent), thanks to SSGC (8.6 per cent of total turnover) and SNGP (4.6 per cent of total turnover).
Major contribution to upside came from financials (+2.16 per cent), industrials (+1.42 per cent) and energy (+0.39 per cent) amid renewed investor interest in HBL (+3.40 per cent), BAHL (+4.02 per cent), MCB (+1.49 per cent), NBP (+2.22 per cent), TRG (+4.1 per cent), MTL (+1.15 per cent), PPL (+1.26 per cent) and PSO (+1.39 per cent).
Meanwhile, healthcare sector (+0.30 per cent) reversed its losses from the previous session following a buoyant close from SEARL (+0.65 per cent), SHFA (+1.12 per cent) and ABOT (+0.21 per cent). Consumer discretionary (-0.80 per cent) and staples (+0.06 per cent) turned red amid profit taking with INDU (-1.22 per cent), KTML (-1.43 per cent), BATA (-3.11 per cent), NML (-0.60 per cent), HCAR (-0.63 per cent), PMPK (-5 per cent) and PAKT (-1.24 per cent) incurring heavy losses from within these sectors.
Market participation for the KSE 100 index declined to 82.64 million shares (-10.8 per cent). Major contribution to total market volume came from LOTCHEM (+2.78 per cent), TRG (+4.10 per cent) and SSGC (+3.64 per cent) churning 44.74 million shares out of the All Share volume of 207.07 million shares.
Daily traded value for the KSE 100 index declined to $52.72 million from $69.79 million in the previous session (-25.9 per cent); TRG ($4.87 million), SSGC ($4.44 million) and ENGRO ($3.60 million) were among top contributors from a traded value perspective.
Major contribution to the KSE 100 index upside came from HBL (+3.40 per cent), BAHL (+4.02 per cent), MCB (+1.49 per cent), PPL (+1.26 per cent) and DAWH (+1.84 per cent) adding 222 points. On the flip side, POL (-1.15 per cent) and HUBC (-0.90 per cent) took away 30 points. The KSE 100 index is 18 per cent above its 52-week low of 37,736.73 reached on December 12, 2017, and 16 per cent below its 52-week high of 53,127.24 touched on May 25, 2017.
The KMI 30 index clinched 683.67 points to reach the day’s high and ended with a rise of 184.04 points. The KSE All Share Index was up 160.35 points with 176 advancers and 195 decliners.
The KSE 100 index is up 2.54 per cent in just 2 sessions however market participation slumped here on Wednesday amid some retreat in intraday gains.
