Good day: Index hits 26-month high, volumes at six-month peak

Firm Asian markets, fresh buying among the triggers.

KARACHI: The stock market surged to a 26-month high in line with rising Asian markets on triggers including soaring oil prices and increasing foreign inflows.

The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index ended the week with a bang by rising 1.68 per cent or 179 points to close at 10,882.

Likely solution to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) chairman issue also encouraged local investors to take fresh positions, said Topline Securities analyst Samar Iqbal.

Expectation for early release of the next International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan tranche of $1.7 billion also played the role of a catalyst in positive activity, said Arif Habib Investments Director Ahsan Mehanti.

Volumes surged to a six-month high of 195.22 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 125.9 million shares.

Exceptional buying was seen in the market across the board, analysts said. The oil sector led the fresh rally, with Pakistan Oilfields sprinting 3.93 per cent to end at Rs256. Oil and Gas Development Company and Pakistan Petroleum Limited, contributing 79 points to the total index surge, closed up 2.1 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively

Fresh offshore buying worth $12.7 million was recorded during the current week against $2.8 million net selling in the previous week.

Cement shares gained with DG Khan Cement closing at the upper lock of five per cent as sales figures hinted at better times ahead. The sector also moved up on talk of an increase in prices of cement by Rs10 per bag, said JS Global Capital analyst Arsalan Khan.

Nishat Chunian Limited, Attock Refinery Limited and National Refinery Limited closed at their upper limit.

Inflation numbers due next week remain a concern for the market with expectations of 16 per cent CPI inflation, triggering a policy rate hike in the monetary policy statement at the end of the month, said Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani.

Shares of 369 companies were traded on the last trading day of the week. At the end of the day, 244 stocks closed higher, 103 declined and 22 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.23 billion.

Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 33.7 million shares gaining Rs0.61 to finish at Rs11.5.

Jahangir Siddiqui and Company came in second place with 17.6 million shares gaining Rs0.59 to close at Rs10.79 while Nishat Mills was third with 12.8 million shares firming Rs1.44 to close at Rs53.39.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2010.