KARACHI - Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged strong recovery on first trading day after Eidul Azha holidays, with benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 572 points and closing at 41779.20 points.
After dismal performance in August, KSE 100-index kicked off September on a positive note. Word on the street suggests upcoming FTSE rebalancing (on 15th Sep) may have triggered advanced buying in a somewhat similar fashion to the MSCI episode, said analyst at Topline Securities.
New additions to FTSE Asia Pacific ex Japan index garnered significant interest; namely MTL (up 5%), SNGPL (4.9%), THALL (3.8%), BAFL (up 3.2%) & MCB (up 1.4%) closing deep in the green despite the underlying risks.
Flat steel prices were raised by Rs2,000/ton on the back of surging int’l HRC prices; resultantly ASL (up 5.1%) & ISL (up 4.7%) closed near respective upper circuits; while bar king ASTL (5%) gained after the market had time to digest its complex expansion plan.
Index movers OGDC (up 4.7%), UBL (2.7%), SNGP (4.8%), BAHL (4.8%) & DAWH (up 3.5%), added 245 points; while HBL (down 5%), DCR (5.6%), PIOC (2.3%), COLG (1.7%) & HMB (1.2%) held back 150 points. E&P’s added 122 points.
Crude oil edged a little higher in the international market as the US Gulf Coast refineries came online after the hurricane. Therefore, E&P sector closed in the green zone as OGDC (up 4.66%), POL (0.32%) and PPL (1.22%) were the major gainers in the aforementioned sector, stated analyst at JS Global.
Moreover, HUBC (up 1.09%) and KAPCO (0.22%) closed in the green in anticipation of PKR depreciation vis-à-vis the greenback. Furthermore, SNGPL (up 4.85%) closed near the upper circuit as the Petroleum Division is all set to implement new gas sector reforms that drove the overall OMC sector upwards. Commercial banks showed slight rally where MCB (up 1.42%) and UBL (up 2.68%) closed positive. HBL (down 5%) again closed limit down due to the news of $630m fine imposed on its New York branch, analyst added.
Traded volume improved to 107m shares compared to 70m shares of previous session while traded value also increased to Rs6.5b/$62m.