PSX sets all-time high

Bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange and the benchmark 100 index gained another 145.13 points to close at a new high of 42,849.12 points Friday. Trading activity however remained low on the last trading day as the daily trading volumes declined to 541.949 million shares as compared to 560.213 million shares traded Thursday. The market capitalisation increased by Rs 43 billion to Rs 8.666 trillion. Out of the total 434 scrips, 214 closed in negative, 206 in positive while the value of 14 stocks remained unchanged.
P.I.A.C. (A) was the volume leader with 59.809 million shares. It gained Re 1.00 to close at Rs 11.44 followed by Bank of Punjab that lost Rs 0.54 to close at Rs 19.59 with 53.330 million shares. TRG Pak increased by Rs 0.40 to close at Rs 45.20 with 27.776 million shares.
Nestle Pakistan and Rafhan Maize were the top gainers with Rs 168.00 and Rs 158.58, respectively to close at Rs 8,564.00 and Rs 7,895.45. Sanofi-Aventis and Murree Brewery were the top losers with Rs 62.50 and Rs 37.79, respectively to close at Rs 1,657.50 and Rs 913.26. An analyst at Global Securities said although the market dipped by over 200 points minutes after the opening bell, it recovered and entered the green territory a little later. The market continued its ascent towards 43,000, reaching its all-time high level 42,949 points before succumbing to selling pressure and closing at 42,849 points. LUCK contributed 56 points after rumours surfaced that the company plans to invest in an automobile plant. Moreover, almost all of the cement companies managed to close in green in anticipation of strong results after news reports suggested that domestic cement off-take shot up by 16 percent during Oct16.
The auto sector witnessed a bearish spell after Japanese yen reached its 4 month low against the US Dollar coupled with 7 percent decline in auto sales during 4 quarter FY17. On the volumes front, PIAA and BOP topped the volumes chart with a turnover of 60 million shares and 53 million shares, respectively. "We expect the market to continue testing 43k with foreign flows likely providing direction to the market," the analyst said.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that bullish trend continued led by cement and banking stocks as investors weigh CPEC projects and surge in government bond yields. Oil stocks battered on lower global crude prices.
The investors concerns over foreign outflows, soaring trade deficit and falling home remittances for July to October 20166 invited intra-day pressure. However, rising global stocks and institutional interest after World Bank reports predict 5.4 percent economic growth for 2018 amid subdued political noise played a catalyst role for record close in the late session rally at PSX.