KARACHI: The market was seen driving forward again as the index-heavyweight oil and gas sector and the financial sector were seen rebounding; pushing the market to yet another all-time high. Lower than expected inflation figure announced earlier was able to boost confidence, providing momentum to buying at the local bourse.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index jumped 0.68% or 112.17 points to end at 16,650.15 point level.
In what is becoming a recurring theme this fiscal year, inflation slipped to a multi-year low in November, clocking in at a below expected 6.9%, where market expectations were pegged at 7.2-7.9%. The figure cemented the belief of another interest rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan in its next monetary policy, due next week.
The gains mostly came from the oil and gas sector with the Oil and Gas Development Company and Pakistan Petroleum both gaining 1.9% and 0.8% respectively.
“Market participants remained cautious ahead of monetary policy next week with banks and cement stocks both trading in a narrow range,” said Shakir Padela, analyst at JS Global Capital.
Trade volumes fell marginally to 193 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 196 million shares.
Shares of 394 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day 208 stocks closed higher, 139 declined while 47 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.9 billion.
Jahangir Siddiqui and Company (JSCL) led the volume charts, hitting the upper limit, while Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) closed in red due to profit-taking after gaining 20% in November alone, said Faisal Bilwani, analyst at Elixir Securities.
JSCL was the volume leader with 23.3 million shares gaining Rs0.91 to finish at Rs18.47. It was followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 19.68 million shares gaining Rs0.08 to close at Rs14.52 and KESC with 13.98 million shares losing Rs0.24 to close at Rs6.66.
Cement dispatches for November witnessed an increase of 17.6% to 2.65 million tons over the year, where exports posted a healthy growth of 11.7% to 0.68 million tons, data from All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association shows. Positive figures drove the sector into the limelight with investors accumulating cement stocks.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs138.47 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2012.
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