“Pakistan equities staged an upbeat welcome, gaining over 1.7% during mid-day, after almost a week long holidays due to the festival of Eid,” said Fareesa Baig of Elixir Securities. PHOTO: PPI/FILE
KARACHI: The Stock market finally turned around as bears led the charge on post-Eid euphoria and result seasons.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.72% or 155.17 points to end at 21,754.95 point level.
“The first trading session after a week long hiatus was dominated by the bulls, as the market played catch up with regional peers. The striking through of a deal in the United States (US) Congress over increasing the debt ceiling, news of US resuming $1.6 billion in aid to Pakistan, the disbursement of $322 million under the Coalition Support Fund and the start of the result season were some of the core reasons for the market’s strength,” said Ahsan Ovais of JS Global.
“Earnings season kicked off with Fauji Cement reporting an impressive 61% year on year growth for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014 (Earnings Per Share Rs0.42) underpinning strong fundamentals prevailing in the sector. Engro Foods (-5.0%) saw pre result jitters as the company’s stock nosedived on market whispers of a disappointing result which will be announced tomorrow,” Ahsan added.
“Pakistan equities staged an upbeat welcome, gaining over 1.7% during mid-day, after almost a week long holidays due to the festival of Eid,” said Fareesa Baig of Elixir Securities.
“Financials tried snapping out of the recent laggard momentum, with MCB Bank (MCB PA +1.6%) leading the index along with National Bank (NBP PA +3.9%) and Bank AlHabib (BAHL PA +4.14%) that followed suit and gained strength. Cements remained active throughout, with DG Khan Cement (DGKC PA +4.6%) and Lucky Cement (LUCK PA +2.2%) attracting investor attention, while Fauji Cement (FCCL PA +9.51%) hit upper price limit over earning announcement that beat expectations at earnings per share of Rs0.44, up 62% YoY,” adds Baig.
Trade volumes rose to 136 million shares compared with last Monday’s tally of 61 million shares.
The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.9 billion.
Askari Bank was the volume leader with 20.4 million shares losing Rs0.78 to finish at Rs0.91. It was followed by Fauji Cement with 14.1 million shares gaining Rs1 to close at Rs11.52 and Pak Elektron Limited with 12.1 shares losing Rs0.99 to close at Rs1.31.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs518 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2013.
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