KARACHI: Stocks were back on track as bulls re-appeared to take control of the market after a day of consolidation. On Wed­nesday, the KSE-100 index gained 482 points (1.21 per cent) and clawed back over the psychological barrier of 40,000 to close at 40,271, recouping the earlier day’s loss of 335 points.

The trade remained volatile as the benchmark initially fell by 129 points on investors’ nervousness after closing in the red yesterday. For most of the day, the index remained in the bullish territory and hit the intraday high of 518 points.

Individuals were the leading buyers of stocks worth $5.51 million and as the market seemed to calm down, mutual funds also picked up stocks of $2.79m. Banks sold shares of $5.26m, followed by foreigners who decided to book profit through disposal of shares valued at $1.93m.

Intense buying activity was seen in cement, autos, steel, energy, banking and exploration and production sectors. During the session, inflation numbers were released as well, which were slightly higher than street consensus, but lowered the odds of rate cut in January monetary policy. It could not, however, pour cold water on buyers’ enthusiasm as expectations remained high on improving macros.

Sectors contributing to the performance include banks, higher by 124 points, cement 69, oil and gas marketing companies 53, exploration and production 28, and pharmaceuticals 27.

The volume declined 13pc to 393m shares, from 449m while traded value increased by 2.2pc to $95m, as against $93m. Stocks that contributed significantly included Unity Foods, Lotte Chemical, K-Electric, Fauji Foods and Maple Leaf Cement, which formed 22pc of total turnover.

Scrip-wise, Lucky Cement, higher by 2.81pc, DG Khan Cement 4.89pc, Packages Ltd 5pc, MCB 1.62pc, United Bank 1.72pc, Habib Metro 2.83pc, Meezan Bank 1.62pc, Pakistan State Oil 4.59pc, Searle Company 3.65pc and GlaxoSmithKline 5pc added most to the index upside.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2019