Bulls stage comeback as benchmark index gains 644 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) recovered all losses suffered in the previous session and managed to post decent gains on Tuesday on the back of improved market sentiments. 

“Banking, exploration & production, oil marketing companies, cement and fertiliser stocks helped the index recover from the selling activity that was observed in the last couple of sessions,” said a report issued by AHL Ltd. “The real head turners today were HUBC and KAPCO, both of which hit the upper circuit in anticipation of resolution of issues with the government.” 

According to the report, E&P stocks posted price gains on the back of a rise in international crude prices, whereas buying activity was witnessed in the fertiliser sector following an increase in fertilizer prices. 

MARKET SUMMARY

The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the green zone throughout the day, registering its intraday at 40,706.08 after accumulating 791.32 points. It settled higher by 644.39 points at 40,559.15. 

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gained 1,175.98 points to close at 65,072.13, while the KSE All Share Index added 354.33 points, ending at 28,347.69. Of the total traded shares, 210 advanced and 131 declined.

The overall market volumes improved from 576.54 million shares in the previous session to 600.01 million shares (+4pc). Average traded value, however, surged by 42pc, from $104.1 million to $147.7 million. Hascol Petroleum Ltd (HASCOL +7.46pc), K-Electric Ltd (KEL +6.79pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -3.62pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 65.45 million, 36.02 million and 31.21 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that drove the benchmark index north included power generation & distribution (164.28 points), oil & gas exploration (139.78 points) and banking (120.69 points). Among the companies, Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC 127.41 points), Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL 70.81 points) and United Bank Ltd (UBL 44.52 points) remained the top contributors.

Based on cumulative market capitalization, the power generation & distribution sector (+6.94pc) ended as the session’s top gainer, with Hub Power Company (HUBC 7.50pc), K-Electric Ltd (KEL 6.79pc), Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO 7.47pc) and Nishat Power Ltd (NPL 7.18pc) posting decent gains.

Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, Dolmen City REIT (DCR +0.36pc) informed that its management has decided to waive 25pc rents of tenants having retail outlets in ‘Dolmen Mall Clifton’, adding that no minimum rent for August will be charged from tenants who remained closed or had limited operations.  

According to DCR, 25pc rental of tenants of ‘Harbor Front’ will also be waived for August 2020.

Moreover, TPL Trakker Ltd (TPLT -8.47pc) announced that it has partnered with Bykea Technologies (Private) Ltd. TPLT will be integrating its ‘location-based service application programming interface’ with Bykea’s mobile application to improve their services.

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