Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Wednesday opened on a negative note due to unexpected US presidential election results. The index dropped to 41,355.12 points intra-day low, down 761 points. However, buying in select stocks supported the index to not only recover intra-day losses but also close in positive territory at a new high of 42,203.63, with a net gain of 89.72 points.
Trading activity also improved as the volumes at the ready counter increased to 552.543 million shares as compared to 480.657 million traded Tuesday. The market capitalization increased by Rs 12 billion to Rs 8.535 billion. Out of total 422 scrips, 216 closed in negative, 185 in positive while the value of 21 stocks remained unchanged.
Foreign investors remained net sellers withdrawing $9.4 million from the stock market.
Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 108.963 million shares. It gained Rs 0.85 to close at Rs 20.37 followed by Telecard Limited that increased by Rs 0.36 to close at Rs 5.25 with 43.560 million shares. Sui Southern Gas Company surged by Rs 1.17 to close at Rs 46.85 with 30.384 million shares.
Wyeth Pak and Philip Morris Pak were the top gainers with Rs 163.47 and Rs 48.19, respectively to close at Rs 3634.83 and Rs 2037.19. Rafhan Maize and Sanofi-Aventis were the top losers with Rs 62.13 and Rs 23.68, respectively to close at Rs 7736.88 and Rs 1669.99. Nabeel Haroon at JS Global Capital Market said the market opened on a negative note on the back of US presidential election and fell to mark an intra-day low of 761 points. However, the market started to recover as the election results came in, to close at 42,204 level. The cement sector extended its previous day gain on the back of encouraging cement dispatch numbers released by APCMA for the month of October 2016. FCCL and KOHC were the top performers of the sector. OGDC, POL and PPL in the E&P sector lost value to close in the red zone as crude oil prices remained largely under pressure during the trading hours.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the index closed higher led by cement, banking and auto scrips on strong earnings outlook. Oil stocks remained in pressure amid mid-session plunge in global equities and oil prices near to $43/barrel after US Presidential Elect victory of Donald Trump. Recovery in global stocks after Trump victory speech and institutional support in bluechip banking and cement stocks played a catalyst role for record close in the late session rally at PSX.
An analyst at Global Securities said that the market commenced on a pessimistic note, crashing by over 750 points within the opening minutes as Trump's chances of winning became clearer. Moreover, top regional markets including Shanghai, Hang Seng, Mumbai Sensex, Nikkei 225 and Taiwan TSEC 50 Index absorbed the news and closed in red. PSX, however, showed resilience and turned positive during the last trading hour, closing at 42,204 points, up 0.21 percent, depicting its strength over other Asian markets.
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