Market watch : Bourse crawls up 24 points ahead of loan talks

Negotiations between IMF and Pakistan start in UAE.

KARACHI:

The stock market crawled up on Wednesday led by the oil sector amid a jump in volumes.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose marginally by 0.2 per cent or 24.34 points to end at 12,036.75 points.

Share prices inched up slightly with expectation that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will make a positive progress, said Topline Securities equity dealer Samar Iqbal.

IMF and a Pakistani delegation were set to start talks in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday to discuss federal budget proposals and make a fiscal review for the release of the remaining $3.3 billion instalment of the IMF loan.

Trade volumes jumped 40 per cent to 84.4 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 60 million shares.

Oil stocks steered the index to hit an intraday high of 12,143 points but profit-taking towards the end pushed the market to close flat.

Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) contributed 15 points to the total gain of 24 points in the benchmark index, added Iqbal.

OGDCL closed 0.4 per cent higher at Rs149.07 and saw its highest activity in four weeks on talk of foreign accumulation.

Shares of 364 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day, 120 stocks closed higher, 140 declined and 104 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.09 billion.

Almost 25 per cent of total volumes were traded in the top two volume leaders.

Bank Alfalah was the volume leader with 10.55 million shares, gaining Rs0.66 to finish at Rs10.68. It was followed by Lotte Pakistan PTA with 10.1 million shares, declining Rs0.1 to close at Rs15.62 and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited with 4.25 million shares, firming Rs0.02 to close at Rs42.07.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2011.