RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: Stocks showed strong recovery led by select scrips Wednesday and the benchmark KSE-100 index gained 246 points to close at 29,940 points compared to 29,694 points Tuesday.
For the last six sessions, the market remained negative on political uncertainty and profit-taking in select scrips. However, on Wednesday, the market showed some recovery as PAT announced to end sit-in and the SC allowed privatisation of OGDCL.
During the intraday trading, the index fluctuated in green zone and crossed 30,000 points level, however the market could not sustain the level and closed with 0.83 percent gain. Following the positive trend, the volume moved upward as overall some 172.5 million shares were traded compared to 144 million in the previous session.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib said stocks showed strong recovery led by select scrips across the board on speculations ahead of quarter-end results. Major activity remained in cement and auto stocks on expectations for record earnings, he added. He said record earnings of MCB Bank, LSM growth data over 5.27pc YoY in Aug’14 and renewed institutional support in oversold oil, fertiliser stocks played a catalytic role in bullish activity at KSE.
Market capitalisation increased by Rs 73 billion to Rs 6.980 trillion mark up from Rs 6.907 trillion. Trading took place in 391 companies, of which 231 closed in green zone, 140 in the red, while 20 remained unchanged.
Analysts at JS said the KSE-100 Index bounced back after a couple of sessions in the red as the bulls dominated the market. A major reason of the bullish momentum was the winding up of the prolonged Islamabad sit-in by one of the opposition parties, they added.
In the cement sector, Maple Leaf (MLCF) fell by 0.7 percent after it announced 1QFY15 EPS of Rs1.03 against our expectations of Rs1.35.
Textile stocks regained momentum on the back of the finance minister’s comments assuring that all options will be explored for provision of gas to the sector, they said.
The auto stocks continued to gain as INDU, PSMC and HCAR hit its upper circuit price on expectations of improved sales and a favourable auto policy, they maintained.
Among top 10 volume leaders, five companies recorded a positive trend, four negative, and one stable. With 29 million shares volume, Maple Leaf Cement emerged the volume leader, losing Re0.20 to close at Rs 29.01. B.O.Punjab stood second, up Re 0.39 to close at Rs 8.70 on 14.4 million shares. Pak Elektron ranked third with 8.2 million shares, gaining Rs 1.14 to Rs 27.14.
Dewan Motors closed at Rs 9.97, down Re 0.12 on 8 million shares. Some 6.8 million shares of Lalpir Power were traded and the scrip moved up by Re 1 to Rs 20.29. Lafarge Pak lost Re 0.11 to Rs 16.43 on 6.3 million shares. With 5 million shares volume, D.G.K. Cement increased by Rs 2.62 to Rs 79.09. Fauji Cement closed at Rs 21.27, gaining Re 0.29 on 4.9 million shares.
Share price of Ghani Automobile was stable at Rs 6.34 on 3 million shares volume. With some 2.5 million shares trading, Hira Textile closed at Rs 12.99, down Re 0.23.
Nestle Pak and Rafhan Maize were the top gainers with Rs 415.00 and Rs 299.99 to close at Rs 8,715 and Rs 11,699.99, respectively. Unilever Foods and Siemens Pakistan were the top losers with Rs 77.10 and Rs 25.59 to close at Rs 8,699.00 and Rs 1,073.50, respectively.
