KARACHI
The local bourse exhibited a sustained positive thread as investors poured money into the market in the hope of reaping rewards from positive results; the KSE 100 index gained 51 points.
The market opened on an encouraging note, after a statement by the Foreign Minister that Pakistan would receive a $7.5 billion grant from the US over the next five years.
All top shelf securities PTC, PSO, POL, NBP, FFC, MCB, ENGRO, PPL and NML performed extremely well and guided the bourse to 107603.71 points from an intraday low of 10641.71 gaining 51.23 points.
KSE 100 is sustained by the vibrant trade in blue chips and is seemingly moving from strength to strength. However, the uninterrupted dash of the bourse without any profit generation is raising a few eyebrows as to the sustainability of the upward sprint.
Most investors are banking on positive corporate announcements with many predicting fine results in these challenging circumstances, and cheap valuation when juxtaposed to regional bourses whose major holdings are stored with foreign financial institutions.
Abbas Raza, Head of Sales at Habib Metropolitan Financial Services said ‘KSE100 may hurl past 10,500 but an upsurge without a correction poses the risk of volatility. Therefore, caution is entailed as the Benchmark 100 advances further.’
The volumes improved to 158mn shares reflecting the positive sentiment of investors in the market. LOTPTA and NML increased by 1.8% and 2.2% respectively, amid speculation, with 15.9mn and 5.3mn shares traded, respectively.
Banking scrips continued to perform well on the back of continued foreign interest and speculations of further monetary policy tightening. Besides isolated interest in various cornered multinationals, the banking stocks stayed in the lime light, mainly due to ongoing drive ordered by Supreme Court for recovery of loans waived in previous regimes.
Hasnain Asghar Ali, market analyst, said the absence of official action regarding MTS launching, threat of rising trend in inflation numbers and reported increase in government borrowings are making inevitable a further hike in interest rates.
Similarly, circular debt and its overall impact on the economy and on the listed stocks should encourage investors to be more circumspect.
