“Hopes of breaching the landmark were turned down by later selling in Engro Corp, as market punters see most positives already priced in,” said Elixir Securities analyst.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.17% or 32.10 points to end at the 18,917.71 points level. Trade volumes were lower at 206 million shares, compared with Thursday’s tally of 214 million shares. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.47 billion.
“Mixed activity was seen at the local bourse, with the corporate results season almost coming to an end,” remarked Samar Iqbal, senior manager equity sales at Topline Securities.
“The index traded in a narrow range, amid concerns over security in the city, economic uncertainty and the falling rupee, despite a recovery in global commodities and record quarter-end earnings announcements in oil, fertiliser, textile and cement stocks,” added Arif Habib Corp analyst Ahsan Mehanti.
Shares of 384 companies were traded on Friday. At the end of the day, 204 stocks closed higher, 146 declined, while 34 remained unchanged.
“Hopes of breaching the landmark were turned down by later selling in Engro Corp, as market punters see most positives already priced in,” said Elixir Securities analyst Harris Batla. “Cements, that started the day on an exciting note, also came in the line of fire, closing red in the likes of Lucky Cement, DG Khan Cement and Maple Leaf Cement.”
“Most of the second- and third-tier plays hit the upper circuit, recording exceptional quarterly earnings,” he added.
TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 27.54 million shares traded, gaining Re1.00 to finish at Rs11.30. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 16.43 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs7.54 and Maple Leaf Cement with 11.82 million shares, losing Rs0.41 to close at Rs18.95.
“The banking sector gained, led by MCB Bank and UBL Bank, as the sector continued to limp out of a long spell of underperformance,” reported Ovais Ahsan from JS Global Capital. “Adamjee Insurance corrected an overbought momentum after a weeklong rally. TRG led volumes, hitting the upper cap again on market whispers of an outstanding quarterly earnings number,” he added.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs285.01 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2013.
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