Stocks surge 85 points on fresh buying

Bulls enter stock market, IMF meeting news may drive the bourse in coming days.

KARACHI: Bulls entered the stock market on Thursday on the back of fresh buying and continued foreign fund support.

The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index ended 0.8 per cent or 84.54 points higher at 10,702.19.

International crude oil prices nearing a six-month high and bullish momentum in world stock markets created positive sentiment at the local bourse, said Crosby Securities analyst Ovais Iqbal.

Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) led the energy sector rally by contributing 17.34 points to the index surge and closed 0.7 per cent higher. Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields closed up 0.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively.

The market is expected to be range-bound in coming days while excitement, if any, will come on the back of news flow regarding International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings on the release of loan installment, said Elixir Securities equity dealer Sara Shahid.

Moreover, net offshore buying worth $9.1 million during the first three trading sessions of the current month remained a key supportive factor for the stock market, the analyst said.

Volumes stood at 126 million shares, up 56 per cent since Monday. They were mainly dominated by second tiers with reports of only a handful local institutions actively participating.

Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 40 million shares, more than 30 per cent of the total market trading. The scrip rose on the back of higher earnings expectations and news that the benchmark PTA index rose by four per cent to $1,441 per ton as some manufacturers were closed in China and Taiwan for scheduled maintenance.

It was followed by the Bank of Punjab with 7.97 million shares gaining Rs0.62 to close at Rs10.89 and Bank Alfalah with 5.95 million shares gaining Rs0.02 to close at Rs9.8.

Shares of 388 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 213 stocks closed higher, 152 declined and 23 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.72 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2010.