Market Watch: Bourse continues climb, gains 31 points

Index crosses 12,000-point barrier during trade.

KARACHI:

The stock market continued to climb in the final trading session of the week on Friday, having gained 323 points in the previous two sessions.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 0.26 per cent or 30.78 points to end at 11,954.37 points.

Equities started off the day on a strong note as broad investor participation pushed the index to the 12,000-point psychological level.

The market, however, began to lose strength and faded slightly during the afternoon, and selling in oil and energy stocks kept the index in check, according to Elixir Securities analyst Sibtain Mustafa.

Despite the highly influential oil and fertiliser sectors leading the market, the index achieved only a modest gain for the session. Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) continued to remain strong, witnessing intraday volatility after rising 7.7 per cent compared with the previous week.

Trading by foreign investors remained low due to Easter holidays in many countries, added the analyst.

Higher global commodity prices and rising foreign exchange reserves, which were recorded at $17.38 billion, and favourable earnings announcements played a catalyst role in positive activity despite concerns over energy shortages and security situation.

Trade volumes marginally fell to 65.97 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 71.12 million shares.

Shares of 348 companies were traded on Friday. At the end of the day, 128 stocks closed higher, 130 declined and 90 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.31 billion.

Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 8.01 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs15.67. It was followed by Hub Power Company with 7.22 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs37.52. The company’s volumes were attributed to the announcement about its Narowal project, which began commercial operations on Friday. DG Khan Cement was the third volume leader with 3.32 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs24.83.





Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2011.