Clarity on the political front and possible settlement of political dispute between Army and Judiciary boosted investor confidence. Finally investors realised the preceding year’s benchmark underperformance with a corporate earnings growth of 22 per cent which made majority of the stocks trading at a discount to their intrinsic valuation.
KSE-100 continued its upward trend during the new year and closed up 2.1 per cent with volumes of 83 million. Investors continued their value buying as political noise in the country settled down. This was further helped by net foreign inflow seen in the past few days. OGDC was again the star performer as it closed the day on its upper circuit on the rumours of local as well as foreign buying interest in the script.
FFBL also closed on its upper circuit as expectations of high cash payout with the final result continued in the market. In the coming days, market will take its cue from the outcome of the prime minister’s visit to the supreme court and new flow regarding the CGT issue. Hopefully after tomorrow’s appearance by the prime minister in the supreme court may settle a number of political issues. The furious bull gripped the benchmark as bullish sentiment blew up the index heavy stocks especially OGDC.
Improvement in volume depicts investor confidence while earning season full of dividends can be considered as a justifiable reason behind the uprising index. Surprisingly the current account turned into a surplus during December providing a ray of hope when the rupee continues to depreciate based on expected external account deficit. “We believe tomorrow’s actions of the supreme court when the prime minister appears in front of judges may drive the investor sentiment,” said Bilal Asif at HMFS.
KSE-100 index closed at 11547.71 levels with a gain of 242.55 points, while KSE gained 211.78 points to close at 10541.23 levels. All share index closed at 7998.08 levels after gaining 162.10 points. Total 158 scrips advanced 69 declined and 116 remain unchanged out of total 343 scrips traded.
