KARACHI: Bulls continued to charge relentlessly on Monday, with the indices accumulating gains all day long amid surge in market volumes.
Global equity markets, on the other hand, displayed a mixed performance, whereas crude oil prices inched up from the previous close; WTI crude price appreciating 0.88pc to $46.98 while Brent crude oil price rising 0.96pc to $50.45 (3:50pm PST).
“An unimpressive power show by opposition parties contributed to the buoyant investor sentiment than the fundamental drivers that came to fruition after 30 days. Pakistan has been scoring high on external front every now and then, especially on account of Roshan Digital Account, which has reportedly seen healthy influx of $150 million, besides growing success of Naya Pakistan Certificates that offer competitive yields on different tenors to Pakistani expatriates. International crude oil prices contributed positively to the E&P stocks, as did the fertilizer sector to the benchmark index. Cement sector also contributed positively to the potential of opening up of South African market,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 remained in the green zone throughout the session, touching its intraday high at 43,316.11 after accumulating 845.71 points. It settled higher by 795.82 points at 43,266.22.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 1,622.99 points to end at 70,641.62, while the KSE All Share Index added 483.72 points, closing at 30,254.30.
The overall market volumes increased from 576 million shares in the previous session to 629.5 million shares (+13pc). Average traded value also improved by 11pc, from $149 million to $164.7 million. Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL +7.47pc), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (HASCOL +5.97pc) and Azgard Nine Ltd (ANL +7.47pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 57.48 million, 46.85 million and 30.97 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that painted the benchmark index green included fertilizer (+134.57 points), banking (+111.53 points) and oil & gas exploration (+103.87 points). Among the companies, Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd (FFC +62.67 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK +54.73 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC +50.39 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 2.77pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the oil & gas marketing sector ended as the session’s top performer, with Pakistan State Oil Ltd (PSO +3.11pc), Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGP +3.48pc) and Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL 5.97pc) posting significant gains.
Meanwhile, according to a PSX notification, the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) has made changes to market lot size for listed companies to be effective from January 1, 2021. NCCPL informed that market lots will be reviewed on 6-monthly basis on market value as of the first business day of June and December.
