KARACHI: Stocks were on fire for the third day of the trading week with the KSE-100 index pushing its way up by 458 points (1.11 per cent) to settle at eight-month high of 41,835.

All of that added Rs92 billion to market capitalisation in a single day. The index opened on a positive note and remained bullish thro­ughout the session touching the day’s high which remained slightly short of the 42,000 level at 41,934.

Trading was brisk as new investors in droves entered in search of a fortune. The volumes for the day clocked in at 836 million shares, which marked a four-year high, from Sept 20, 2016.

The tone of the market was set by National Bank of Pakistan which unveiled its financial results at the sound of opening bell. The numbers were hugely better than market expectations and the impact was visible in its stock price, which quickly climbed to reach its upper circuit.

Investors’ interest in equities was captured by a positive news flow that included lower than anticipated August headline inflation at 8.2pc (down from 9.3pc in July) coupled with gradual recovery of rupee against dollar. Oil marketing companies’ figures were released showing total volumetric sales up by 20pc year-on-year in Aug’20 which carried Hascol to its upper lock while PSO gained 3pc.

Foreign selling was in the sum of $2.99m. Among local participants, banks, brokers and insurance companies tried to spoil the momentum by heavy profit-taking, but massive buying by mutual funds and individuals thwarted their efforts keeping the bulls on the run.

The volume rose 10pc over the previous day while traded value also surged 21pc to $158m.

Cement, fertiliser, OMCs and chemical sectors were major gainers. In cement, upward streak continued where Kohat, Cherat, Pioneer, Maple Leaf and DG Khan Cement were the key movers. Among banks, National, United, Alfalah and Habib closed in the green. Other rising scrips were Engro Corporation, Dawood Hercules and Engro Fertiliser.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2020