Stocks stage 810-point rally on falling oil prices

KARACHI: Extending the overnight bullish trend, the stock market on Thursday staged a spectacular rally thanks to a notable decline in international commodity prices as investors shrugged off the political scenario and picked shares at attractive levels.

Market analysts said the biggest one-day slump in global crude oil prices and the possibility of a decline in other global commodities pri­ces acted as a positive trigger.

The stock market opened in the green zone and stayed there throughout the day, said Arif Habib Ltd.

Investors kept accumulating shares across the board because of low valuations, especially in the cement sector where Lucky Cement Ltd, Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd, D.G. Khan Cement Com­pany Ltd, Cherat Cem­ent Company Ltd and Pioneer Cement Ltd closed higher.

At the end of trading, the KSE-100 index gained 810.66 points or 1.88 per cent on a day-on-day basis to close at 43,853.62 points.

The trading volume increased 48pc to 271.9 million shares while the traded value went up 23.6pc to $42m on a day-on-day basis.

Sectors that contributed the highest number of points to the benchmark index included cement (217.45 points), commercial banking (199.38 points), technology and communication (128.06 points), auto assembling (41.49 points) and textile composite (33.6 points).

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pak Elektron Ltd (35m shares), TPL properties Ltd (23.45m shares), World­Call Telecom Ltd (22.92m shares), Flying Cem­ent Ltd (11.61m shares) and Ghani Global Holdings Ltd (11.52m shares).

Shares contributing positively to the index included Lucky Cement Ltd (104.25 points), Systems Ltd (84.94 points), Meezan Bank Ltd (51.63 points), Millat Tractors Ltd (38.06 points) and United Bank Ltd (37.66 points).

Stocks that took away the maximum number of points from the index included Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (17.68 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (13.49 points), Shakarganj Ltd (4.46 points), Pak Elektron Ltd (2.79 points) and Attock Petroleum Ltd (2.51 points).

In percentage terms, shares recording the largest increases were Systems Ltd (7.57pc), Pioneer Cement Ltd (7.5pc), D.G. Khan Cement Company Ltd (7.46pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (7.24pc) and Cherat Cement Company Ltd (7.01pc).