KARACHI: Bulls were back with a vengeance on Thursday where the KSE-100 index staged a breakout amid burst of activity. The index surged 825 points (2.02 per cent) to close at 41,558 points.

After spiking 881 points in the first half, the index lost its mojo and started retreating as the court proceeding pertaining to indictment of Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law continued amid mixed news flow. However, bulls resurfaced in the final hours and took the index beyond all supply zones despite the much anticipated indictment, analysts at Inter­market Securities said.

Others said that investors were enthused by the reports of a possible week-end meeting with the top officials of the finance ministry where the brokers’ proposals to the bail out the market including the setting up of Rs20bn market support fund would be discussed. The major buying was through the “brokers proprietary trading’ amounting to $4.05m. Many wondered if the fraternity knew something, which others did not. The net buying by brokers helped to absorb much of net foreign selling of $4.35m worth stocks.

The volume increased by 68pc over the previous day to a two-month high at 232m shares while the traded value soared 86pc to Rs11.5bn.

Major contribution to upside came from Engro Corp, which went up 4.55pc, Lucky Cement 4.36pc, PPL 2.68pc, HBL 1.5pc and PSO 3.77pc, adding 266 points.

On the flip side, MCB Bank fell 1.29pc, POL 1.49pc and PAKT 5pc, taking away 62 points. Among sectors, materials, health care and energy outperformed the benchmark index.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said stocks closed bullish led by scrips across the board as investors expect strong financial results in oil and cement sectors in the quarter-end earning season.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.