Market watch: Bullish activity at bourse, index up 64 points

Trading volume rises to 117 million shares.

KARACHI:

The stock market recorded bullish activity on Thursday after the release of Raymond Davis, a US citizen accused of killing two Pakistanis on January 27, which increased expectations of improved relations between Pakistan and the US.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index rose 0.54 per cent or 63.7 points to end at 11,858.27 points.

After a weeklong bearish spell at the bourse, local institutions resorted to aggressive buying at lower levels, which kept the momentum positive throughout the day, according to JS Global Capital analyst Jawad Khan.

Trading volume rose to 117 million shares, compared with Wednesday’s tally of 108 million shares.

Equities opened positive backed by a settlement of the diplomatic row with the US over release of Raymond Davis. However, with no key trigger to sustain the upbeat sentiment, the market soon slumped into a lacklustre phase to regain momentum just before the close on local investor-led buying, said Elixir Securities analyst Sara Shahid.

The fertiliser sector was green throughout the session, as investors brushed aside the federal government’s decision to withdraw sales tax exemption on fertilisers. Additionally, talk of a gas discovery sparked local and foreign interest, which led to Pakistan Oilfields gaining 2.8 per cent.

Changes made to the tax structure by the government, in a bid to persuade the International Monetary Fund to release a loan tranche of the $11.3 billion programme, remain a key trigger in the short term.

Shares of 346 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 150 stocks closed higher, 97 declined and 99 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.26 billion.

Fatima Fertiliser was the volume leader with 10.44 million shares, gaining Rs0.8 to close at Rs13.1. It was followed by Lotte Pakistan PTA with 10.17 million shares, gaining Rs0.31 to close at Rs15.5 and Nishat Chunian with 6.04 million shares, gaining Rs0.03 to close at Rs28.06.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2011.