December 13, 2020 (MLN): The KSE-100 Index gained nearly 263 points during the departed week and settled at 42,470-mark, i.e. up by 0.62% as compared to the previous week’s closing of 42,207 points.
According to a report by BMA Research, ‘Promising vaccine updates from major drug makers around the world fueled investor sentiments as the index gained 263 points over the week. The Ministry of National Health Services in Pakistan announced during the week that the coronavirus vaccine will be available in the country by March 2021. On the other hand, both UK and Canada have already authorized the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, while US is expected to follow suit within a matter of days. Following the news of release of COVID-19 vaccines, Brent oil jumped to its 9-month high to close above USD 50 per barrel’.
Cement emerged as the top gaining sector during the week as it added 51 points to the index followed by Oil & Gas Exploration (+50 pts), Commercial Banks (+49 pts), Refinery (+23 pts) and Fertilizer (+22 pts).
Company wise, the scrips of HBL (+49 pts), UBL (+37 pts), OGDC (+31 pts), TRG (+26 pts) and NBP (+24 pts) benefited the most.
Meanwhile, the KSE All Share Market Cap increased by $283.8 billion or 0.59% over the week, being recorded at $48.5 trillion as compared to a Market Cap of $48.2 trillion recorded last week.
Figures released by NCCPL showed that foreigners remained net sellers during the week as they sold net USD 9.59 million worth of stocks during the week with foreign corporates doing the bulk of selling amounting to net USD 10.13 million.
On the local front, insurance companies purchased net USD 10.59 million worth of stocks, followed by USD 2.9 million worth of stocks bought by individuals and USD 2.4 million by Broker Proprietary Trading. Other significant transactions included USD 6.2 million worth of stocks sold by Banks/DFI.
