Stocks post gains for fifth consecutive session
KARACHI: Stocks lurched forward for the fifth straight day with the KSE-100 index recording gains of 159.28 points (0.38 per cent) and close at 42,207.
It brought the two-week aggregate gains to 2,020 points (5.5pc). The sustained bullish trend of the market surprised many for it was regardless of the foreign selling in the staggering sum of $30 million during the week.
“The local participants at the market have displayed insatiable appetite for stocks”, a trader said. On Friday, foreign funds let go of equity worth $3.87m which was absorbed by individuals and insurance companies. Broker proprietary trading also cherry picked shares valued at $2.5m.
The index started out in the positive and rose to intra-day high by 269 points. While positive news flow was scant, the country continued to witness spike in Covid-19 cases. Investors, mainly institutions decided to book profit ahead of the week-end and the threatening tone of the opposition parties which are adamant on holding protest rally in Lahore on the Dec 13.
The political uncertainty did little to plug the outflow of funds. Selling by timid and weak holders half an hour short of market close, saw the benchmark give up some of the early gains.
Volumes increased 2pc over earlier day to 428m shares. TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 43m shares traded. Exploration & production stocks moved up cautiously despite increase in international crude oil prices after Opec+ made the decision for a gradual increase in output in 2021. Refinery sector continued to display positivity for the third day where National Refinery again closed at its upper circuit.
Steel sector which has also been the investors favourite of late outperformed on Friday with Amreli Steel Ltd hitting the upper lock and Agha Mughal and International Industries Ltd also making tidy gains. Sector-wise, E&Ps, banks and technology were major movers while among scrips, Oil and Gas Development Company, TRG, United Bank Ltd, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd and Habib Metropolitan Bank provided support to the benchmark.
Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2020