Renewed buying coupled with short covering in banking, cement and Oil and Gas exploration stocks well-countered massive onslaught in the fertiliser stocks, wherein Fauji group stocks from fertiliser sector stayed under severe pressure, for most part of the session on technical grounds. Red numbers engulfed other stocks of the sector by the day end, as they failed to resist renewed selling by the corporate participants.
Accumulation in banking stocks on the sensation linked to upcoming corporate announcements and on various rumours suggesting regulatory changes that may result in mild increase in earnings did neutralise the impact of massive price erosion in fertiliser stocks. Short covering and renewed buying in PPL (the stock lost substantial value in previous sessions) singly made substantial contribution to the benchmark, besides offering trading opportunity to the market men.
The KSE 100 index closed at 11685.15 levels with the gain of 44.69 points, while KSE 30 index gained 30.12 points to close at 11125.61 levels. All Share index closed at 8107.59 levels after gaining 30.16 levels. Total 145 scrips advanced 109 declined and 106 remain unchanged out of total 360 scrips traded.
Repercussions of exit from IMF monitoring have started to surface in the form of an imbalance in various sensitive economic variables, which may magnify incase the lender denies issuance of LOC that is essential for continuing business with various international lenders along with unsettled financial issues, kept the market participants jittery. Wherein various stocks stayed in search of sustainable levels kept the local equities in “no-man’s land” for most part of the session.
Although corrections are termed as an opportunity for collection of valuable stocks at discounts, fragile economic and financial issues, energy short fall, along with high temperatures on political front, are certainly too many issues to keep in check by the participants of the local equity markets.
Hasnain Asghar Ali at Aziz Fida Husein said “discounts in the stocks consistent in offering decent payouts and reporting growth can be looked for placements, while stocks likely to continue impact of gas curtailment and managing expansion under high and expensive debt, with question on availability and dispatch of final product needs to be avoided for the time being.”
