KARACHI: The benchmark-100 index posted a 1% gain week-on-week to end July on a positive note with investor interest getting a boost amid the start of earnings announcement and strong institutional buying.
Strong resistance was observed near 40,000 point level ahead of the monetary policy announcement, with major tilt of trading activity towards low or mid-cap stocks, Express Tribune reported.
However, despite range-bound activity during the week, interest in index heavy stocks, mainly in banking sector, led the index to close at its all-time high of 39,528. Exploration and production stocks pulled index down as international oil prices decreased $3/bbl week-on-week, with Oil and Gas Corporation Limited, Pakistan Oilfield Limited & Pakistan Petroleum Limited cumulatively contributing a 209-point fall to the index. By mid-week, the index was in corrective mode but still managed to inch higher to its all-time high.
Gains in the index were primarily led by United Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited and Lucky Cement which cumulatively contributed 259 points. Fauji Meat Limited added 141 points to the index.
News of drug price increase in line with the formula approved by Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), which allows the increase in prices to be linked with certain percentage of inflation, led the rally in the pharmaceutical sector. Yen appreciation and below-expected result in autos led to profit taking in the sector.
Amongst major sectors, tobacco, cement and oil & gas marketing companies were up 6.3%, 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively.
Foreign institutional portfolio investment (FIPI) witnessed an inflow of $10.94 million during the week vs $11.49 million outflow last week, whereas the average volume traded decreased by 11.7% week-on-week and the value of shares traded decreased 20.6% week-on-week.
