KARACHI: The stock market continued to climb north for the 13th session in a row on Tuesday with the KSE-100 index appreciating by 126.65 points (0.35 per cent) to close at 36,745.22.

The bulls have ferociously held sway for over two weeks with the benchmark recording eye-popping gains of 3,033 points or 9pc. Buyers do not seem to be exhausted and the rally which is the longest in 30 months is showing no signs of weakening.

Massive selling of shares worth $12.79 million by foreigners tried to drag index down which also dipped to intraday low by 84 points in the red. But an equally heavy buying by insurance and individuals neutralised the impact for the market to continue its ascend and hit the intraday high by 317 points.

On the news front, the International Monetary Fund lowered Pakistan’s growth projection to 1pc due to the continuous negative effects of Covid-19 pandemic as part its review. Among positives, the country recorded all-time high remittances of $23.12 billion during FY20 which defied market expectation of lower numbers. Investors were also relieved to witness marked reduction in coronavirus cases.

Exploration and production and pharmaceutical com­­­p­anies were the lead winners. In former, Pakistan Petroleum emerged as a maj­or mover with spiked significantly. Pakistan Oilfields and OGDC also gained despite a slight setback in international oil prices. The performance came on back of the news of hydrocarbon discovery by MoL in Tal block.

In cement, profit-booking was seen in most major scrips. Pharma sector continued its upward trend where Ferozsons hit its upper circuit. The volume again stood high at 466m shares, as against 469m the previous day. Traded value also edged llower 2pc to $109.5m, from $111m.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2020