Market watch: Index hits all-time high to close near 26,000
Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 353.33 points.
A trader monitors an electronic board (unseen) displaying index during a trading session at the Karachi Stock Exchange January 2, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI:
The index shot up and continued an upward trend throughout the day closing at a record high. Pakistan equities displayed relative strength from the onset with volumes which were last seen more than five months ago.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 1.38% or 353.33 points to end at 25, 962.18.
“Surprisingly, the banking sector mainly MCB Bank (+2.9%) and Bank Al Falah (+1.5%) were able to register firm gains on expectations of a good payout in full year results,” said Jawaad Aboobakar, an analyst at Elixir Securities.
“The market participants do not expect a rate hike in the upcoming monetary policy (due in mid January) after CPI Inflation clocked in at 9.18% for the month of December,” he added.
“While late profit-taking was witnessed in textiles, investor interest in cement remained alive on expectations of an increase in dispatches in the upcoming quarter with Lucky Cement (+3.5%) and DG Khan Cement (+0.5%) closing in green,” said Aboobakar.
Meanwhile, Fahad Ali of JS Global Capital stated that major activity was seen in second tier stocks. “Exploration and production sector also advanced on the back of latest weekly PPIS data that revealed Adhi oil production has risen to a 20-month high of 6,961 barrel per day (+312bpd or 5% week-on-week) for the week ending December 17, 2013,” he said.
Ali added that fertilizer remained strong throughout the day as there was an increase in urea prices by manufacturers to neutralise the impact of the increase in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) by the Pakistan government.
“Fatima Fertilizer hit its upper circuit within a few moments after the morning bell, as it’s a major gainer due to its subsidized feedstock gas agreement at $0.7/mmbtu,” he said.
Trade volumes rose to 387 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 341 million shares.
Shares of 402 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 259 stocks closed higher, 128 declined while 15 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12 billion.
Jahangir Siqqiui and Company was the volume leader with 36.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.76 to finish at Rs10.33. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 29.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.15 to close at Rs8.29 and Maple Leaf Cement with 14.5 million shares, losing Rs0.11 to close at Rs28.20.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs2million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2014.
The index shot up and continued an upward trend throughout the day closing at a record high. Pakistan equities displayed relative strength from the onset with volumes which were last seen more than five months ago.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 1.38% or 353.33 points to end at 25, 962.18.
“Surprisingly, the banking sector mainly MCB Bank (+2.9%) and Bank Al Falah (+1.5%) were able to register firm gains on expectations of a good payout in full year results,” said Jawaad Aboobakar, an analyst at Elixir Securities.
“The market participants do not expect a rate hike in the upcoming monetary policy (due in mid January) after CPI Inflation clocked in at 9.18% for the month of December,” he added.
“While late profit-taking was witnessed in textiles, investor interest in cement remained alive on expectations of an increase in dispatches in the upcoming quarter with Lucky Cement (+3.5%) and DG Khan Cement (+0.5%) closing in green,” said Aboobakar.
Meanwhile, Fahad Ali of JS Global Capital stated that major activity was seen in second tier stocks. “Exploration and production sector also advanced on the back of latest weekly PPIS data that revealed Adhi oil production has risen to a 20-month high of 6,961 barrel per day (+312bpd or 5% week-on-week) for the week ending December 17, 2013,” he said.
Ali added that fertilizer remained strong throughout the day as there was an increase in urea prices by manufacturers to neutralise the impact of the increase in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) by the Pakistan government.
“Fatima Fertilizer hit its upper circuit within a few moments after the morning bell, as it’s a major gainer due to its subsidized feedstock gas agreement at $0.7/mmbtu,” he said.
Trade volumes rose to 387 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 341 million shares.
Shares of 402 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 259 stocks closed higher, 128 declined while 15 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12 billion.
Jahangir Siqqiui and Company was the volume leader with 36.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.76 to finish at Rs10.33. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 29.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.15 to close at Rs8.29 and Maple Leaf Cement with 14.5 million shares, losing Rs0.11 to close at Rs28.20.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs2million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2014.