The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.66% or 194.11 points to end at 29,737.69. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
KARACHI: The stock market continued its bullish trend on the basis of massive foreign inflows just ahead of budget.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.66% or 194.11 points to end at 29,737.69.
Elixir Securities analyst Harris Ahmed Batla said the equities opened gap up carrying momentum from the last session. “However, the index did see volatility at record highs of 29,850 to finally settle +0.66% from its previous close,” he said.
“Yesterday’s $31 million gross buying gave the much-needed push to investor confidence as trading volumes jumped to over 240 million during the day.”
According to Batla, expectations over development spending in the coming budget kept cements upbeat with cement giant Lucky Cement(LUCK) +2.9% while blue chip financials to the likes of National Bank (NBP) +1.7%, MCB Bank (MCB) +1% and Bank Alfalah (BAFL) +1.15% gathered institutional interest following a lag in the recent rally.
Batla concluded that small cap retail plays remained dominant over volume chats with Lafarge Cement (LPCL) +3.12%, Karachi Electric (KEL) -2.4% and Fauji Cement (FCCL) 4.14% taking the lead.
JS Global analyst Fahad M Ali said that it is expected that the market will continue on its bullish trend as optimism rises on the part of investor as budget nears.
Trade volumes fell to 330 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 351 million shares.
Shares of 372 companies were traded on the last trading session of the week. At the end of the day, 164 stocks closed higher, 191 declined while 17 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs17.7 billion.
Byco Petroleum was the volume leader with 32.41 million shares, gaining Rs0.64 to finish at Rs12.39. It was followed by LPCL with 27.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.45 to close at Rs14.89 and KEL with 25.6 million shares, declining Rs0.21 to close at Rs8.55.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs779 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2014.
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