Market watch: Stock market rallies to gain 92 points

OGDC leads surge amid lacklustre activity.

KARACHI:

The stock market rose by 92 points before the weekend break as the oil and gas sector led the buying charts amid weak activity.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.76% to end at 12,190.37 points.

Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan State Oil and National Refinery were some of the companies that witnessed selective buying in an otherwise dull day for the bourse, Topline Securities equity dealer Samar Iqbal said.

Fauji Fertilizer was active as it captured some investor interest after the announcement of its first half results helped the stock gain Rs1.7 from its last closing.

Trade volumes declined to a paltry 46.17 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 64.32 million shares. Investors decided to remain on the sidelines amid continuing fears of foreign selling in the market, according to analysts.

Due to rumours, MCB Bank, Pakistan Oilfields Limited, and Pakistan Petroleum Limited experienced heightened profit taking in the last hour of the trading session, said JS Global analyst Umer Ayaz.

Even then, NIB Bank right shares made up 16% of the total value while its shares were valued at just Re0.01. Not surprisingly, it led the charts with 7.45 million shares. Bank of Punjab was second with 5.39 million shares traded by the end of the day at Rs6.38 after a positive change of Rs0.14. Lotte Pakistan was third with 2.69 million shares closing at Rs12.19 after gaining Rs0.09

Shares of 325 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day 127 stocks closed higher, 96 declined while 102 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs2.66 billion.

Foreign institutional investors were gross buyers of Rs667.7 million and gross sellers of Rs654.4 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2011.