Pakistan stocks remain bullish on easing Afghan tensions

KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks witnessed a bullish momentum on the second day of the week after the US president’s speech over the Afghan issue’, which settled down the uncertainty at the bourse by not blaming Pakistan, dealers said.

This was also buoyed by the official statement of the National Security Council supporting the peaceful establishment of a new government in the neighbouring country.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said the stocks showed sharp recovery on easing tensions on Afghanistan fallout; following the Taliban takeover.

“Upbeat Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) growth at 14.85 per cent in July 2021 and over $2 billion receipts in [the] Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs) and speculations in the earnings season rally played a catalytic role in the bullish close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index gained 0.57 per cent, or 182.80 points, to close at 47,258.45 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.74 per cent, or 345.66 points, to close at 18,932.28 points.

As many as 461 scrips were active, of which 332 advanced, 110 declined and 19 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 246.07 million shares, compared with the turnover of 251.80 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market traded in the positive zone after dissipation of the after effects of the situation in Afghanistan.

“[The] uptick was observed across-the-board, with major impact from [the] power, cement, oil and gas marketing companies and technology sectors. This was coincided by the autos and steel sectors. This being a short trading week, investors’ sentiment skewed to positivity, as selling subsided.” The banking sector showed nominal performance, amid profit-booking.

“Going forward, we expect the market to turn positive after the complete political settlement in Afghanistan, till then, we recommend our investors to adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the ongoing week,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Colgate Palmolive, up Rs69.99 to close at Rs2769.99/share; and Allawasaya Textile, up Rs31.79 to close at Rs455.71/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Wyeth Pakistan, down Rs139.96 to close at Rs1,726.23/share; and Ismail Industries, down Rs31.27 to end at Rs392.03/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in TPL Properties with a turnover of 30.97 million shares. The scrip gained Rs3.16 to close at Rs45.57/share; followed by Ghani Global with a turnover of 16.97 million shares. It gained Rs1.25 to close at Rs45.01/share. TRG Pakistan was the third with a turnover of 14.07 million shares. It gained Rs1.2 to finish at Rs165.15.

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