KARACHI: Stocks staged a grand rally on Thursday with the KSE-100 index up by 531 points (1.29 per cent) to 41,790.16.

The gainers were led by the mutual funds, which made hefty purchases of value stocks at bargain prices on the relief offered by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan with regulatory change that seeks to waive the requirement for maintaining a minimum of 5pc of assets in cash.

Fresh liquidity found its way into equities as was seen in the figures released by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan showing mutual funds as major buyers of $12.05m worth shares.

With the first hour, the index peaked to intraday high by 592 points amid expanding market participation. Later in the day, the index retraced partially and traded sideways for the rest of the session before rallying once again just before market close.

The volume soared 66pc to 162m shares from 97m shares that changed hands a day ago. The traded value jumped 80pc to Rs10.1bn from Rs5.65bn. Banks decided to book profit and sold shares valued at $6.57m.

SNGPL was amongst the volume leader on anticipation of any decision on commencement on RLNG III pipeline. PPL was up 3pc and also remained top volume leaders on the back of higher oil prices.

Auto sector continued its upward trend for third consecutive day. Steel companies also showed positive momentum, where International Industries, Amreli Steel and Aisha Steel closed at their respective upper circuits.

E&P sector led the gains on the bourse as international crude oil prices edged higher. PPL was up 2.62pc and OGDC 1.22pc.

Honda Atlas gained 5pc, Millat Tractor 1.35pc, Dewan Motors 4.87pc and Pak Suzuki 0.93pc.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2017