KARACHI - Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday turned bullish again, with the benchmark KSE 100-index gaining 609 points to close at 43,528 points.
The benchmark index opened on negative activity before adopting a positive momentum for the rest of the session. It hit a day's low of 42,384 points a few minutes after trading commenced, whereas it hit a day's high of 43,628 points near the end of the session, brokers said.
Dealers at Topline brokerage stated that Pakistan market opened in negative zone on back of overnight news of Supreme Court decision against former PM Nawaz Sharif, disqualifying him from heading the ruling party PML-N. In a surprise move, the apex court has ruled that all steps taken, orders passed, directions given and documents issued by Sharif since his disqualification last year (Jul 28, 2017) will be deemed to have been nullified. Value buyers sensing bargain level and taking cue from news flow PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq calling on the chief election commissioner to re-issue tickets to the party's Senate candidates concluded that there is likelihood of Senate election taking place on time resorted to across the board buying. This led market to stage a strong bounce back, snapping the three-day loosing streak. Market participants said mid session pressure was witnessed on concerns for political uncertainty, dismal data on external account, trade deficit and foreign outflows.
Higher global crude prices, upbeat data on textile exports, upbeat remittances and cement dispatches for Jul-Dec'17 and robust financial results in cement, banking and oil sectors played a catalyst role in bullish close. Participation increased with improvement in sentiments despite upcoming FATF decision. Traded value was up 7% and traded volumes were up 1%. Top 5 index point contributors included UBL (down 4%), HBL (1.8%), ENGRO (2.7%), OGDC (1.9%) and MCB (1.8%), which added 354 to the index.
