Market watch: Bourse closes at five-month high

Benchmark KSE-100 share index jumps 139 points .

KARACHI:

Bulls turned up the heat at the Karachi Stock Exchange on Thursday to close above 12,500 after a gap of five months with support of the fertiliser and oil sector.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index jumped 1.12 per cent or 139.01 points to end at 12,508.42 point level.

Aggressive buying was witnessed in the fertiliser sector following rumours of urea price hike and handsome payout expectations in the upcoming corporate results season, said Topline Securities equity dealer Samar Iqbal.

Renewed buying interest was seen in Engro Corporation amid hope of getting commercial operation date soon for its $1 billion plant and it closed near its upper circuit breaker, added Iqbal. The corporation’s stock, the second-most traded share on the day, soared 4.6 per cent to close at Rs170.36.

The three fertiliser companies Engro, Fauji Fertiliser Company and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited contributed more than 35 per cent of the total value traded on Thursday.

Trade volumes also rose to 77 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 59 million shares.

Pakistan Oilfields managed to shine among the oil sector companies, up 2.3 per cent to close at Rs368.12, on rumours of an expected increase in production in one of the key development fields.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) were rumoured buyers in fertiliser stocks while locals were seen active in energy and textile stocks, said analysts. FII were net buyers of Rs103 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim was the volume leader with 6.45 million shares gaining Rs0.8 to finish at Rs43.39. It was followed by Engro Corporation with 5.72 million shares firming Rs7.9 to close at Rs170.36 and SilkBank Limited with 0.23 shares losing Rs0.23 to close at Rs2.62.162.46

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2011.