Market watch : Bourse crawls up in dull trade

KSE 100-share index rises 30 points.

KARACHI:

The stock market closed marginally higher in a dull trading session at the start of the week on Monday.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index ended 0.26 per cent or 30.11 points higher at 11,583.03 points.

The announcement of an unchanged monetary policy failed to provide any impetus to the market as it was in line with expectations, said JS Global Capital analyst Ahmed Rauf. The State Bank of Pakistan left the discount rate unchanged at 14 per cent on Saturday.

Activity remained subdued amid lack of positive triggers, with only 79 million shares traded against 66.39 million shares on Friday.

The fertiliser sector remained in the limelight after sales and production data was released. Fertiliser sales rose five per cent, while production climbed 13 per cent in February on a monthly basis.

FFBL led the volumes chart with 10.32 million shares, jumping Rs1.22 to close at Rs41.25. Fatima Fertiliser came second with 8.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.29 to close at Rs13.31.

Also in the limelight was the textile sector as the government assured the industry of tax relief. Nishat Chunian Limited rose Rs0.31 to close at Rs28.9.

The market is expected to remain choppy with interest in selective stocks only, said Elixir Securities equity dealer Nazim Abdul Muttalib.

However, a gradual increase in margin trading volume is likely to restore investor confidence and increase turnover in the wider market in coming days, added Muttalib.

Shares of 360 companies were traded on Monday. At the end of the day, 144 stocks closed higher, 121 declined and 95 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.09 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2011.