Business

Market watch: New (fiscal) year buying spree gains pace

Bourse rises 281 points on improved investor activity.

Our Correspondent July 02, 2013

Shares of 343 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 201 stocks closed higher, 99 declined, while 43 remained unchanged. PHOTO: Reuters/File

KARACHI: Investors kept up the new fiscal year buying spree, pushing the index up in anticipation of a fresh International Monetary Fund-backed bailout programme. The new financial year has also brought with it a refreshing surge in investor activity, as trade volumes once again soared to nearly 250 million shares.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index climbed 1.32% or 281.01 points to end at the 21,644.17 points level. Trade volumes shot to 245.28 million shares, compared with Monday’s tally of 155 million shares. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.3 billion.

“Equities carried on the positive momentum, as lagging fertilisers finally played a constructive role in pushing the KSE-100 Index to close above 21,500 points. Gains in the sector [...] were on news of an increase in urea prices, while cements also closed up as international coal prices test new lows,” reported Faisal Bilwani, analyst at Elixir Securities.

“Broader market activity picked up, with institutions more active after yesterday’s banking holiday, while retailers enjoyed the volatility and were busy churning for a quick buck,” he commented.

Shares of 343 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 201 stocks closed higher, 99 declined, while 43 remained unchanged.

“Engro Corp, Dawood Hercules and Pakistan Telecommunications Company (PTCL) further enhanced the already positive sentiment at the bourse, where all of the above mentioned stocks closed at their upper circuits,” said Fahad Ali, analyst at JS Global Capital. “Investor interest was seen in cements as well, whereas the banking sector was volatile today, where MCB Bank dominated sentiments.”

Pakistan Telecommunication Company was the volume leader with 25.86 million shares, gaining Rs1.09 to finish at Rs23.26. It was followed by Fauji Cement with 23.45 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs14.26; and Wateen Telecom with 10.37 million shares, gaining Rs0.17 to close at Rs4.49.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs443.49 million worth of securities, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2013.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.