Market Watch: Low activity continues as bourse edges up 0.93 point

Investors await government decision on petroleum prices.

KARACHI:

Investor mood remained sombre on the final trading day of the quarter at the stock market, but a positive close was witnessed on the back of institutional and foreign interest in blue chips.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.01 per cent or 0.93 point to end at 11,809.54 points.

Early trading in the oil sector helped the market gain 78 points, however, a depressed mood due to the loss of Wednesday’s cricket semi-final against India spilled over into next day leading to thin trading, according to Elixir Securities analyst Sara Shahid.

Approval of loans by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank a day earlier, which had lifted local sentiment in the past, failed to provide any trigger, added Shahid.

A decision on petroleum product prices later in the evening also led to speculation over friction between political parties, causing investors to stick to sidelines.

Activity was confined to mid-cap stocks and fertiliser and cement sectors remained in the limelight due to high earning expectations, said Arif Habib Investments Limited Director Ahsan Mehanti.

Trading volume improved to 68.53 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 52 million shares.

Shares of 371 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 111 stocks closed higher, 172 declined and 88 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.72 billion.

Lotte Pakistan PTA managed to generate decent volumes, as it topped the volumes board on expectations of higher earnings. With trading in 14.67 million shares, Lotte lost Rs0.03 to finish at Rs16.14. It was followed by Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim with 3.01 million shares, losing Rs0.2 to close at Rs41.42 and National Bank of Pakistan with 2.72 million shares, losing Rs0.34 to close at Rs57.02.

Pakistan outruns MSCI Frontier markets

The benchmark KSE 100-share index posted a decline of two per cent in the first quarter of 2011 as both international and local geopolitical events gripped market sentiments, according to Topline Securities.

However, Pakistan market performed better than MSCI Frontier markets which declined by 6.5 per cent, said Topline Securities analyst Farhan Mahmood in a research note.

MSCI Frontier markets track the performance of 26 countries including Pakistan. Among Asian frontier markets, Bangladesh remained the worst performer with a negative return of 23 per cent.

MSCI Emerging Markets Index posted a slight gain of 0.7 per cent with India remaining the worst performer by posting negative return of 5.2 per cent among Asian emerging markets.

The MSCI World Index, measuring global equities, posted a third quarterly rise, with a gain of 3.9 per cent. Global stocks have now recovered all

Published in The Express Tribune, April 01^st, 2011.