KARACHI: Stocks extended rally ahead of the long weekend, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index accumulating over 1,000 points intraday amid surge in market volumes.
Foreign investors remained net sellers of $3.89 million on Wednesday, with major selling witnessed in oil and gas exploration ($1.13 million) and fertiliser ($1.51 million) sectors.
According to analysts, the market opened on a positive note primarily on the back of rising crude oil prices, expectations of a rate cut and relaxations in virus lockdown.
“Activity was observed across the board, with major contribution from oil & gas stocks; OGDC, PPL and POL hitting upper circuits,” said an analyst at Arif Habib Ltd. “Banking stocks remained relatively muted, whereas cement, fertiliser and steel sectors made considerable strides forward.”
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Stock Exchange has sought a relief package from the government to restore investors’ confidence at the bourse. The stock market has asked for a financial injection from the government’s pension funds, tax incentives to encourage new listings, and reduction in the cost of shareholding and trading for shareholders.
The KSE-100 Index stayed in the green zone throughout the session, marking its intraday high at 34,178.57 after gathering 1,019.73 points. It settled higher by 952.0 points at 34,111.64.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 2,064.05 points to close at 55,529.38, while the KSE All Share Index gained 574.58 points, ending at 23,937.61. Of the total traded shares, 249 advanced and 73 declined.
It may be noted that after crashing by 23pc in March, the benchmark index posted a massive recovery of 16.69pc in April 2020.
Sectors that painted the KSE-100 Index green included oil & gas exploration (+308.48 points), banking (+136.90 points) and power generation & distribution (+93.95 points).
The overall market volumes jumped from 140.45 million in the previous session to 291.99 million, with Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +3.76pc), Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +6.64pc) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +3.26pc) topping the volume chart. The scrips had exchanged 37.78 million, 27.04 million and 25.83 million shares, respectively.
On the financial side, NetSol Technologies Limited (NETSOL +0.14pc) announced earnings per share (EPS) of Rs2.24 for 3QFY20 (Rs2.03 last year), Highnoon Laboratories Limited (HINOON +1.82pc) posted an EPS of Rs9.14 for 1QFY20 (Rs7.59 last year), Philip Morris Pakistan Limited (PMPK -1.91pc) declared an EPS of Rs5.87 for 1QFY20 (Rs-20.56 for 1QFY19), Nestle Pakistan Limited (NESTLE +0.01pc) recorded an EPS of Rs42.76 for 1QFY20 (Rs50.15 in 1QFY19), while Nishat (Chunian) Limited (NCL +5.62pc) published an EPS of Rs-0.71 for 3QFY20 (Rs1.76 last year).
