Market watch : Bourse on the course towards recovery, crosses 18,000

Benchmark KSE-100 index adds 96 points amid decent volumes.

KARACHI: The country’s largest stock exchange recovered as index heavyweights along with small and mid–tier stocks led the market to close above the psychological 18,000-point level. In the final trading session of the week, cement and telecom sectors led the charge as pressure of future rollover eased off.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.53% or 95.55 points to end at 18,043.31 point level. Activity jumped after four successive days of being subdued as trade volumes jumped to 204 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of
101 million shares.

“The local bourse closed the week above 18,000 with the Oil and Gas Development Company and illiquid consumer names helping. Activity in the broader market was unexciting, however, small and mid capitalised stocks attracted volumes,” reported Faisal Bilwani, analyst at Elixir Securities.

Shares of 332 companies were traded on Friday. At the end of the day 197 stocks closed higher, 99 declined while 36 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.97 billion.

“Initial momentum was provided by the cement sector rallying on the back of better than expected dispatches for February,” said Fahad Ali, analyst at JS Global Capital. Cement sector posted a substantial increase across the board with Maple Leaf Cement being the highest gainer in the sector for the day, added Ali. Accumulation was also seen in the fertiliser sector.

On Thursday, The Express Tribune reported that the average after-tax profit earned per share and return on equity for the cement industry increased by 200% and 900% respectively from year 2011 to 2012.

Wateen Telecom was the volume leader after the company announced that its major shareholder, Warid Telecom International, which presently holds 54% of the total issued share capital of Wateen will buyback all issued ordinary shares at a premium and seek delisting from all stock exchanges of Pakistan.

Wateen Telecom was the volume leader with 28.35 million shares gaining Rs0.36 to finish at Rs4.2. It was followed by Pakistan International Airlines with 22.04 million shares gaining Rs0.53 to close at Rs7.76 and Maple Leaf Cement with 14.72 million shares climbing Re1, hitting its upper lock, to close at Rs17.76.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs22.38 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2013.

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