Stocks extend winning streak to third day

Stocks rose for the third straight session on Wednesday, building on the previous session's rally that was driven by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China, with investors keeping a hope on positive outcome to gauge the economic outlook.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index closed higher by 135.90 points or 0.33 percent to 41,944.59 points against 41,808.69 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 42,005.13 points while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 41,726.25 points.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said another positive session was witnessed at the PSX. “The benchmark index traded in the green for the majority of the session, maintaining the momentum from the previous session, as investors remained hopeful for a positive outcome from the Prime Minister’s visit to China,” the brokerage said in a post market report. “Volumes improved significantly in the mainboard yet third tier stocks remained in the limelight.”

KSE-30 index also increased by 62.78 points or 0.41 percent to 15,349.13 points compared with 15,286.35 points recorded in the last session.

Traded shares increased by 38 million shares to 230.561 million shares from 192.142 million shares. The trading value dropped to Rs6.249 billion from Rs6.311 billion. Market capital expanded to Rs6.753 trillion from Rs6.735 trillion. Out of 353 companies active in the session, 156 closed in green, 166 in red and 31 remained unchanged.

Analyst Muhammad Arbash at Topline Securities said equities closed slightly positive where the benchmark Index settled at 41,944 level (up 0.33 percent). “Rangebound activity witnessed at the bourse where the market made an intraday high of 196 points and a low of 81 points as investors remained uncertain over ongoing political and economic conditions,” he said.

Major gainers were HUBC, POL, PSO, PPL and SNGP cumulatively added 128 points, while on the other hand TRG, HBL, UBL, DAWH and PSEL cumulatively dented the Index by 63 points.

The highest increase was recorded in shares of Siemens Pak., which rose by Rs63.09 to Rs904.42 per share, followed by Goodluck Ind., which increased by Rs48.15 to Rs690.15 per share. A significant decline was noted in shares of Allawasaya TexXD, which fell by Rs269.36 to Rs3,322.19 per share, followed by Sanofi-Aventis, which decreased by Rs43.45 to Rs982.05 per share.

Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks witnessed bullish activity on investor speculations over the positive outcome of PM's visit to China.

However, midsession pressure remained on reports of 26.6 percent year-on-year CPI inflation and dismal data for Oil, Auto and Cement Sales in Oct’22.

Likely China's debt rollover, CPEC revival and dues settlement of China IPPs under CPEC to sign off new projects played a catalyst role in a positive close, he said.

Sectors contributing to the performance included E&P’s (+60.3 points), power generation & distribution (+48.2 points), oil and gas marketing companies (+39.6 points), fertilizer (+19.5 points) and automobile assembler (+9.5 points).

Hascol Petrol remained the volume leader with 55.741 million shares that increased by 82 paisas to Rs7.34 per share. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 23.567 million shares that closed lower by 2 paisas to Rs1.46 per share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Cnergyico PK, G3 Technologies, TPL PropertiesXB, Sui North Gas, TRG Pak Ltd, Pak Refinery, Sui South Gas and Netsol Tech.

Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 55.549 million shares from 61.848 million shares.