KARACHI: The KSE-100 index stormed past the 40,000 mark and remained stable all of the day as bulls made another major attempt to keep their hold on the market.

The benchmark gained 283.34 points (0.71 per cent) and settled at 40,166.12. The volume surged 65pc over the earlier day to 827 million shares, which featured the highest turnover since May 2017. However, bulk of it or 41.6pc was attributable to the penny stock Worldcall Telecom as its price rose to Rs1.02 from Re1 as a major brokerage firm disclosed to the public the intention of ARY Communications to acquire over 51pc in the company.

Other interesting development was the foreigners’ switchover from sale to purchase of Pakistani stocks for the fourth day running. Traded value of shares stood at $145m, up 9pc over the earlier day. Second and third-tier scrips dominated the volume and value.

That in no way is to say that the currently favourite sectors did not contribute to the market upsurge. Cement led the rally while exploration and production rose on higher international crude prices as Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Oilfields and Pakistan Petroleum ended in the positive trajectory.

Cement garnered investor interest by the talks of retail price increase as well as reports of the Punjab government granting extended exemptions in lockdown, allowing industries and construction sector to operate 24/7, which supported the index.

Mixed sentiments were seen in the financials where National Bank closed near the upper circuit, while MCB and Habib also closed in the positive trajectory.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2020