Strong remittances data, IT package lift PSX

Published on The Express Tribune on 11th August

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange resumed its upward march on Wednesday aided by strong economic cues and announcement of an incentive package for the IT and telecom sector by the government.

Resultantly, the KSE-100 index rose 242 points and inched closer to the 47,400-point mark.

Investors weighed sentiments on encouraging remittances reading, which clocked-in at $2.7 billion in July 2021. The strong receipts signalled a positive start for the new fiscal year and motivated investors to assume fresh positions.

The KSE-100 index spiked as soon as trading began and gained nearly 500 points, however, the momentum was broken as investors resorted to profit-booking that erased few of the gains by the end of the session. Bullish investor spirits helped the index end the day on a positive note.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 241.9 points, or 0.51%, to settle at 47,377.38.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated, “Sentiment was buoyant on the expectation of healthy earnings by key listed entities which helped propped up the market. Besides, incentives issued in favour of technology firms and finance minister’s notice regarding inquiry against stock brokers also helped develop positive sentiment.”

Banks, oil and gas marketing companies, cement, power and technology stocks performed well.

Refinery sector also performed well due to anticipation of refinery policy being finally put to approval of cabinet, the report added.

JS Global analyst Neelum Naz said that bulls pulled the KSE-100 to an intra-day high of 47,628 points. Despite some profit-taking the market eventually closed with a gain of 242 points at a level of 47,377, she said.

In the ongoing result season, Engro Polymer (+3.5%) announced a cash payout of Rs7 per share for the quarter. Moreover from the refinery sector, Attock Refinery (+0.1%) and National Refinery (+1.9%) also announced their full year results.

 “Going forward, we recommend investors to adopt a buy on dips strategy in steel, technology, refinery and cement sectors,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes rose to 382.6 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 370 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs15.7 billion.

Shares of 472 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 222 stocks closed higher, 223 declined and 27 remained unchanged.

Ghani Global Holdings was the volume leader with 27.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.97 to close at Rs43.43. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 26.7 million shares, losing Rs0.02 to close at Rs3.43 and Engro Polymer with 26 million shares, gaining Rs1.99 to close at Rs58.58.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs50.86 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.