Market Watch: Index jumps to levels not seen since July 2010

KSE’s 100-share index gains 91 points to end at 12,496.

KARACHI:

The stock market’s upward rally continued on the last trading session of the week with the benchmark 100-share index closing at a seven-and-a-half-month high.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index gained 0.74 per cent or 91.44 points to end at the 12,495.68 point level.

Investor participation also remained strong with 233 million shares being traded against the preceding day’s 206 million shares. Although activity in second tier stocks remained strong, active participation was also witnessed in main board including stocks in oil, banks and fertilisers, said JS Global Capital analyst Umer Ayaz.

Engro ended for the second day in a row ended on its upper limit of 5% after investor cherished its result announcement as the company managed to show decent growth in earnings despite a trouble year of gas availability.

Oil and Gas Development Company also added decent gains by firming 1.4%.

DG Khan Cement announced higher than expected half-yearly result on Friday. Despite better results and remaining strong throughout the day, the stock lost 2% to close at Rs25.16.

Jahangir Siddiqui and Company was the volume leader with 30.6 million shares gaining Rs0.24 to finish at Rs9.41. It was followed by DG Khan Cement with 27.2 million shares declining Rs0.52 to close at Rs25.16 and Azgard Nine with 23.7 million shares increasing Rs0.59 to close at Rs6.72.

Shares of 335 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day 149 stocks closed higher, 115 declined while 71 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.72 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2012.