Stocks rise on rupee rebound

Stocks rallied on Wednesday mainly cheering a solid claw-back by rupee versus dollar, amid underpinning from the energy sector following world oil market rout, traders said.

The KSE-100 Shares Index jumped 398.61 points or 0.95 percent to 42,494.85 points at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after hitting a day high of 42,779.13 and a low of 42,096.24 points.

Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks gained on strong rupee recovery, while the finance minister’s hints that UAE was interested in investing $1 billion in Pakistan through the capital market also strengthened the general sentiment.

Mehanti said $4.794 billion RDA (Roshan Digital Accounts) receipts and likely approval of $1.5 billion ADB (Asian Development Bank) balance of payments support supported the surge.

The KSE-30 index gained 197.21 points or 1.24 percent to close at 16,079.99 points.

Traded shares shrank 33 million to 373.184 million from 406.680 million shares. The trading value increased to Rs13.231 billion from Rs11.636 billion, while market capital expanded to Rs7.089 trillion from Rs7.047 trillion.

Turnover in the futures' contracts rose to 111.624 million shares from 110.913 million shares.

Out of 350 names active in the session, 203 closed in the green, 123 in the red, while 24 remained unchanged.

Brokerage Topline Securities credited this positivity to easing crude oil prices that it said would help take some pressure off the external account on account of lower import bills down the line.

The PPL, OGDC, and NBP rallied 4.3 percent, 2.5 percent, and 5.9 percent respectively after the finance minister said a meeting would be held immediately to consider the matter of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that were declaring healthy dividends, as it would result in income and revenue generation, according to the brokerage.

PPL, HBL, HUBC, OGDC and MEBL, cumulatively contributed 199 points to the index.

Allawasaya Textile posted the best gains of the day by surging Rs291.53 to Rs4,189.98 per share, followed by Sanofi-Aventis, up Rs91.50 to Rs1,311.50 per share.

Rafhan Maize led the losers by shedding a massive Rs683.33 to end at Rs10,400 per share, while Nestle Pakistan XD emerged as the second worst performing stock by giving up Rs130 to finish at Rs6,055 per share.

Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark index traded in the green zone throughout the day as investors opted for value hunting across the board.

“The energy sector remained in the limelight following the rumours of progress on the circular debt resolution. Overall investor participation remained healthy,” the brokerage said.

Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (+156.4 points), energy (+108 points), fertiliser (+56.1 points), power (+55 points), and technology (+42.7 points).

Cnergyico PK was volume leader with 33.748 million shares. The refiner lost 4 paisas to end at Rs5.47 per share. Pakistan Refinery was next in terms of most traded shares as it posted a turnover of 27.682 million shares. The stock gained 9 paisas to rise to Rs18.10 per share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included TPL Properties, Lotte Chemical, WorldCall Telecom, Unity Foods Ltd, Telecard Limited, TRG Pak Ltd, Sui North Gas XD and Sui Southern Gas.