LAHORE: After two turbulent sessions at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), just when it looked like things were going to fall apart, they actually fell right into place. On the verge of a breakdown, driven by gradually deteriorating sentiment, market watchers opted to disregard immediate concerns and bulls came back to stage a reversal, worthy of a standing ovation. Foreign investors closed the third week as net sellers laying off the most in the oil and gas exploration sector and the commercial bank sector.
The KSE 100 index gathered 684.75 points in the last session of the week to land at 43,627.10. The KMI 30 index finally managed to jump higher and appreciated by 1,173.48 points while the KSE All Share Index was up 464.25 points. A total of 249 scripts elevated and only 95 declined.
Overnight gains on Wall Street provided an initial bounce to regional markets however the region ended on a mixed note amid subdued trading with many markets shut for the Lunar New Year holiday. Stocks in Europe extended the rally in global equities following a muted session in Asia while US stock index futures posted solid gains ahead of Friday’s open, lifted by positive sentiment in domestic and international markets.
The market volumes cut down from 219.25 million in the previous session to 148.29 million on Friday. TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +2.10 per cent) had 13.80 million shares traded followed by Azgard Nine Limited (ANL +4.33 per cent). The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX +0.36 per cent), volume 5.71 million was third most traded stock.
The Pharmaceutical sector was top gainer which added 2.84 per cent to its market capitalisation. The Searle Company Limited (SEARL +4.99 per cent) hit the upper circuit breaker, Macter International Limited (MACTER) was 4.43 per cent in the green and Ferozsons Laboratories Limited (FEROZ) gained 4.20 per cent.
Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF -2.58 per cent) declared financials for the period ended December 31, 2017. Sales grew by 12 per cent quarter to quarter to Rs 6.48 billion but net profit declined 12 per cent compared to the last quarter. Earnings per share stood at Rs 1.63 compared to Rs 2.79 in the same period last year. The board also approved a cash dividend Rs 1.50 per share.
Market volume and turnover receded on day over day basis (-23.9 per cent and -16.5 per cent respectively) as local investors decided to adopt the wait and see viewpoint. Recent declines are mainly attributable to, 1) uncertainty regarding foreign flows, 2) investors’ concerns emanating from Supreme Court’s recent use of suo moto powers, 3) doubts arising from constrained relations with the US and 4) Sector-specific concerns impacting Cements, Banks and Energy plays.
Major support came from SEARL (+4.99 per cent), GLAXO (+3.86 per cent), HBL (+3.42 per cent), UBL (+3.22 per cent), MCB (+1.43 per cent), BAFL (+1.72 per cent), HMB (+2.27 per cent), PPL (+2.80 per cent), OGDC (+1.23 per cent) and POL (+1.79 per cent). For the outgoing week, the KSE 100 index lost 181.7 points (-0.41 per cent) with major drag coming from LUCK (-4.09 per cent), DGKC (-6.62 per cent), SNGP (-5.69 per cent), SEARL (-5.98 per cent) and MLCF (-8.32 per cent) taking away 225 points while HBL (+8.44 per cent), UBL (+3.67 per cent) and PPL (+2.12 per cent) added 366 points.
Technically speaking, after closing just shy of trend line support in the previous session the 100 Index took out 200, 20 and 10EMA along with Thursday’s high in one swift move. For now, immediate resistance is 44,300 (previous week’s high) while 42,860 (intra week low) is expected to provide immediate support.
