Traders monitoring the shares prices at the Karachi Stock Exchange on Thursday, November 28 2013. PHOTO: PPI
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 1.73% or 412.14 points to end at 24,180.49.
“Pakistan equities regained momentum in an attempt to test recent highs, surging by more than 400 points to record a close of 24,180” said Jawwad Aboobakar of Elixir Securities.
“Index heavy Oil & Gas Development (OGDC PA +1.6%) continued its dominance while interest rate hike excitement in financials kept investors’ interest alive as most banks gained strength, namely National Bank of Pakistan (NBP PA +1%), MCB Bank (MCB PA +3.6%) and United Bank Limited (UBL PA +4.7%).
“Consumer stocks Nestle Pakistan (Nestle PA +5%) and Mitchells Fruit Farms (MFFL PA +3.2%) continued their rally on expectation of phenomenal results for this quarter,” Aboobakar said.
Stock market analyst Wasi M Khan of JS Global Securities said the market closed green while gaining 412 points. “Amongst stocks, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited was in the limelight, going up by 1.8% due to the continuation of operation against grey traffickers,” said Khan.
“Moreover, the cement and textile sector also witnessed buying as Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL +2.6%), D G Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +3.2%), Nishat Mills Limited (NML +4.3%), Nishat Chunian Limited (NCL 5.0%) and Kohinoor Textile Mills Limited (KTML +5.0%) managed to attract investors.”
Trade volumes rose to 153 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 98 million.
Shares of 374 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 267 stocks closed higher, 84 declined, while 23 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.4 billion.
Fauji Cement was the volume leader with 18 million shares, gaining Rs0.34 to finish at Rs13.46. The Bank of Punjab followed with 12.7 million shares, losing 0.09 to close at Rs10.41, while Maple Leaf Cement with 8.1 million shares gained Rs0.45 to close at Rs25.11.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs42 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 29th, 2013.
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