KARACHI: The stock market opened gap up on Wednesday, representing investors’ delight over Pakis­tan’s launch of Eurobonds in the international market that raised $2.5 billion.

The icing on the cake was the State Bank of Pakistan’s confirmation of receipt of $499 million under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The KSE-100 Index rose by 97 points or 0.22 per cent to close trading at 44,587.

In other news, the investors welcomed Pakistan’s revival of trade with India which also reflected thaw in the icy relationship. The fear over the rising cases of Covid-19 was pushed to the back of the mind as stocks across the board made big gains in the early hours to take the KSE-100 Index to intra-day high by 642 points.

In the lead of individuals who took fresh positions in stocks worth $7.41m and insurance companies that bought shares of $2.08m, E&P, Cements, Banks, O&GMCs and Steel sectors saw shares sell like hot cakes.

Among other participants, mutual funds, brokers and foreign investors were major sellers. While the market continued to move within a narrow band in about the entire trading session, the last hour saw massive dumping across the board but mainly in the over-bought stocks in the technology sector, TRG and Netsol and all scrips on the Refinery sector.

The sudden sell-off that saw the Index sink in the red was not quite understood, mainly as the index made major recovery in the last 20 minutes of trading.

Steel and Auto sectors which had accumulated hefty gains during the session mainly on the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, also fell back recording heavy erosion from day’s high.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index included ENGRO, UBL, POL, Systems Limited and Service. Stocks that contributed negatively included TRG, Habib Bank, Colgate, Hubco and Fauji Fertilizer. Volumes increased from 339.1m shares a day ago to 443.9m shares (+31pc DoD). Traded value also rose by 25pc to $169.7m. Scrips that contributed significantly to the volumes included BYCO, TRG, PRL, UNITY and GGL, which formed 42pc of total volumes.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2021