KARACHI:
The stock market fell nearly 80 points in early trade, but support from cement and oil stocks saw it close in the positive territory after a volatile trading session.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index gained 0.68% or 90.40 points to end at the 13,451.07 point level.
Equities remained volatile amid relatively lower volumes than previous sessions, as small and mid cap stocks continued to dominate volumes.
Trade volumes fell to 336.91 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 347.21 million shares. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.71 billion.
According to JS Global Analyst Murtaza Jaffar, active buying was witnessed in energy scrips after reports of increased production in the Kandanwari and Domail fields, which are owned by Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan Oilfields (POL) respectively. OGDC closed up Rs2.21 with 2.8 million shares changing hands, while POL too was actively traded with 0.8 million shares, up Rs1.34.
The Bank of Punjab (BoP) was the volume leader with 26.23 million shares gaining Rs0.46 to finish at Rs9.55. It was followed by Lafarge Pakistan with 18.77 million shares gaining Rs0.35 to close at Rs3.46 and NIB Bank Limited with 18.63 million shares gaining Rs0.08 to close at Rs2.81. Jahangir Siddiqui and Company’s stock continued its solid upward drive, gaining 6.00% on Thursday.
Foreign institutional investors were buyers of Rs559.70 million and sellers of Rs754.54 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited. They were rumoured buyers in fertiliser scrips, while locals were active in cement and holding companies on strong earnings outlook.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2012.
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Well i recommend all small investors to trade on short term basis as technical indicators are on sell side as RSI, STS and MACD are all showing sell signals. Also keep in mind that SRO date may delay and this will create a panic and may take a negative turn so be liquidate and make your cash ready for buying opportunity in other stock.
If you monitor that still all blue chips stocks didn't move.