Market Watch: Bourse continues upwards march

KSE’s benchmark 100-share index gains 58 points.

KARACHI:

With the help of local investors, the stock market continued its upward momentum and closed at a seven week-high on Tuesday.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index surged 0.41 per cent or 57.87 points to end at the 14,200.79 point level, a day after it surged an unprecedented 341 points.

Local participants continued the search for safer bets for both short term trades and portfolio investments amid upcoming result season and apprehensions of healthy payouts, said market expert Hasnain Asghar Ali.

Media reports that the US assured that entire CSF fund will be released by the end of 2012 kept investor excited.

Volumes improved 12% to 119 million shares led by the fertiliser and cement sector on expectation of healthy June-end corporate results.

Lucky Cement showed some initial promise but closed with clipped gains, up 0.5% also over local institutional selling. Oil stocks were led higher by Oil and Gas Development Company gaining 1.43% with decent volumes of nearly 1.5 million shares, over expectations of better full year payout.

For the second consecutive day, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs213 million worth of shares, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited surged 1.8% and nearly hit its upper circuit intraday over market expectations of cash payout with full year results, while media reports that the government is planning the 3G auction soon also added some excitement.

Shares of 348 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day 146 stocks closed higher, 113 declined while 89 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.6 billion.

DG Khan Cement was the volume leader with 11.5 million shares declining Rs0.20 to finish at Rs41.08. It was followed by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited with 11.0 million shares firming Rs0.26 to close at Rs14.60 and Jahangir Siddiqui and Company with 9.5million shares increasing Rs0.14 to close at Rs13.55.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2012.