Oil sector leads gains on stock market
KARACHI: The share market on Tuesday continued its winning streak for the third consecutive session amid optimism on the economic front but the KSE-100 index failed to settle above the 65,000-point having crossed it briefly in the intraday trading.
Topline Securities Ltd said the equity market maintained a positive trajectory throughout the day, reaching an intraday high of 65,063 and witnessing a low of 64,461 points.
Today’s rally can be attributed to Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd, Bank Al-Habib Ltd, Bank Alfalah, Attock Petroleum Ltd and HabibMetro Bank as they collectively contributed 298 points to the index’s positive performance.Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed bullish led by the oil sector on investor speculations about the government’s resolve to settle power sector circular debt.
He added that the rupee’s appreciation and expectations of a status quo in the SBP’s upcoming monetary policy meeting on Jan 29 also helped stocks extend their overnight gains.
As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 64,822.43 points after gaining 368.21 points or 0.57 per cent from the preceding session.
The overall trading volume rose 12.74pc to 479.98 million shares. The traded value, however, dipped 9.97pc to Rs22.50bn on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included K-Electric (67.84m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (39.61m shares), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (34.47m shares), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (33.64m shares) and WorldCall Telecom Ltd (25.38m shares).
Shares registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Attock Petroleum Ltd (Rs28.81), Ibrahim Fibres Ltd (Rs23.00), Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs11.39), Service Industries Ltd (Rs11.16) and JS Global Capital Ltd (Rs9.76)
Companies registering the biggest decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs50), Nestle Pakistan (Rs50), Faisal Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs22.18), Bata Pakistan (Rs14.50) and Pakistan Hotels Developers Ltd (Rs9.37).
Foreign investors remained net sellers as they sold out shares worth $3.50m.
Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024