Market watch: Bourse turns bullish led by oil stocks

Benchmark KSE 100-share index jumps 141 points.


Express June 01, 2011

KARACHI:


The stock market turned bullish on Wednesday amid a rally in oil stocks following deregulation of oil prices.


The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index jumped 1.16 per cent or 140.91 points to end at the 12264.06 point level.

Change in local oil price mechanism sparked a rally amid hopes that oil and refinery sectors will reap the benefit, said Topline Securities equity dealer Samar Iqbal.

Oil stocks boosted sentiments led by Oil and Gas Development and Pakistan Oilfields rising 2.4 and 2.01 per cent, respectively.

OGDC alone contributed 61 points in the total gain of the benchmark index on Wednesday, added Iqbal.

Foreign institutional investors were rumoured to be sellers of index heavyweights while locals were net buyers in energy and fertiliser stocks, according to analysts.

Foreign portfolio investment registered a net inflow of Rs73 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Trade volumes strengthened to 118 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 123 million shares.

International Steel Limited caught a lot of attention on its debut and gained more than five per cent to close at Rs14.84.

Shares of 350 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day 171 stocks closed higher, 94 declined while 85 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.75 billion.

Fauji Cement (Right) was the volume leader with 15.12 million shares losing Rs0.04 to finish at Rs0.1.

It was followed by International Steels with a volume of 9.5 million shares and Fatima Fertiliser with 8.69 million shares gaining Rs0.56 to close at Rs13.46.

KSE among the top performing markets

The uncertainty following Osama bin Laden’s assassination ignited concerns of weak returns in May, however, the benchmark KSE‐100 index recovered from being down three per cent in the first week to end the month up 0.5% on a monthly basis. This made it one of the best performing markets among regional peers, according to a KASB Securities research note.

Talk of a potential relaxation in capital gains tax (CGT) coupled with a status quo on discount rate at 14 per cent helped the market gain during the month, note adds.

Foreign portfolio invest rose three times to $26 million in May while volumes fell 25 per cent on a monthly basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2011.

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