KARACHI: Bulls were in complete command of the stock market on Friday where they knocked down all stumbling blocks to easily cross the 45,000-point level and close at an all-time high of 45,387.23 points, representing the day’s massive gains of 645.25 points (1.44 per cent).

Volumes rose to 407 million shares against the previous day’s 368m shares while the trading value improved to Rs22 billion from Rs16bn.

The start was sluggish due to the Friday factor as well as the three-day closure ahead. Yet investors rushed to build fresh positions across all index-heavyweight sectors, sensing a stalemate on the political front following the adjournment of the Panama case hearing by the Supreme Court till the first week of January.

The oil and gas sector managed to set the tone for the overall direction after crude oil prices shot up by 2.2pc overnight. OGDC gained 2.18pc, POL 3.57pc, PPL 2.13pc and Mari 5pc.

Banks and cements also led the index deep into uncharted territory. “Major contribution from cements to upside came from Lucky Cement, which hit its upper circuit. DGKC added 2.95pc, FCCL 0.79pc and PIOC 3.43pc,” said analysts at Intermarket Securities.

Among banks, HBL (3.10pc), MCB (1.65pc), UBL (0.85pc), BAFL (2.11pc) and NBP (0.88pc) contributed the most to the index, they added.

Investors’ interest was seen in pharmaceuticals where Searl and Glaxo closed on their upper circuits. Textiles rallied with NML going up 1.79pc, NCL 1.19pc and GATM 0.21pc. Fertilisers garnered investors’ interest with Engro going up 0.42pc, Engro Fertilisers 2.13pc and Fatima 4.97pc.

Arif Habib Corporation’s Ahsan Mehanti stated that the report about rising auto sales, upbeat data on the cement production and higher urea sales for November played the catalyst’s role in the record-high index close.

Published in Dawn December 10th, 2016