Market watch : Stocks gain 97 points in thin trade

Volumes tumble as cricket keeps <br /> investors away.

KARACHI:

The stock market gained in extremely thin trade on Wednesday as investors seemed much more interested in the cricket match between Pakistan and India than the shortened trading day at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE).

The KSE 100-share index ended 0.83 per cent or 97 points higher at 11,809 points.

Trade timings were cut down by one and a half hours as the market closed at 2pm following prime minister’s announcement of a half-day holiday due to the cricket encounter between the arch rivals. Volumes tumbled more than 50 per cent to 52 million shares against Tuesday’s volume of 110.4 million shares.

Sentiment remained positive on hopes of a breakthrough in diplomatic and trade and industrial relations with Delhi after a Pakistani delegation, led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, left for India for the match, said Arif Habib Investments Limited Director Ahsan Mehanti.

Expectations for strong corporate earnings announcements this quarter also played the role of a catalyst in positive activity, added Mehanti.

Cement and fertiliser stocks remained in the limelight during trade. Investors accumulated cement stocks due to increase in cement prices while fertiliser was in demand in anticipation of better quarterly results, said Topline Securities equity dealer Samar Iqbal.

Lucky Cement was the volume leader with five million shares, gaining Rs2.14 to finish at Rs68.03. It was followed by Arif Habib Corporation with 4.78 million shares, firming Rs0.8 to close at Rs25.82 and Fauji Fertiliser Company with 3.21 million shares, gaining Rs0.21 to close at Rs13.43.

Shares of 329 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day, 158 stocks closed higher, 74 declined and 97 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.02 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2011.