Market Watch: Bourse marks best session since March

KSE-100 benchmark index takes a breather, gains 276 points

KARACHI: Investor confidence rose on Wednesday as the stock market came out of the dark and followed footsteps of other regional markets to sprint its way upwards. The KSE-100 benchmark index gained 276 points or 2.5% to end the day at 11,311.29points.

The bourse marked its best session since March 2011 as the index rebounded sharply after the US Federal Reserve assured investors to help aid economic recovery, said Elixir Securities equity dealer Sibtain Mustafa. Engro Corporation, Nishat Mills and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) all close at their upper limit of the day, providing a break to their slide as they have lost more than 25% in value, Mustafa added.

The benchmark index fell by 12 per cent in the last 12 trading sessions before Wednesday’s session to hover around the 11,000-point mark on the back of global market drop.

Foreign institutional investors continued to sell but on a lower scale as they sold Rs261 million worth of shares during the trade session compared with Tuesday’s Rs650 million, according to data compiled by National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Engro Foods marked its debut at the bourse by falling Rs0.07 to close at Rs24.71.

Shares of 198 companies rose while 50 companies declined and 88 remained unchanged.

Even though the market had a strong recovery, trade volumes dropped to 67.6 million shares compared with Tuesday’s 69.1 million shares. The total value of trade on Wednesday was worth Rs2.86 billion.

Results of Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Engro Corporation which are due on Friday may bring some momentum in the market, said JS Global analyst Mujtaba Barakzai.

Soneri Bank was the volume leader with 6.35 million shares losing Rs0.08 to finish at Rs4. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 5.09 million shares gaining Rs0.52 to close at Rs4.9 and National Bank of Pakistan with 4.38 million shares increasing by Rs1.53 to close at Rs45.53.