At close, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.25% or 74.97 points to end at 30,071.58.
Elixir Securities analyst Jawwad Aboobakar said the benchmark KSE-100 index consolidated to continue its upward trend after significant foreign buying.
“Pressure in regional markets enticed locals to book profits ahead of the long Eid holidays holding back cements and oils,” said Aboobakar.
“However, rising CPI inflation paved way for financials attracting local and foreign interest particularly National Bank (NBP) +0.82%, Askari Bank (AKBL) +2.09% and Bank Alfalah (BAFL) +3.93% leading the volumes chart.
“The Oil & Gas Dev. Co. (OGDC) +0.65% continued to attract interest amid ongoing road shows for the sale of its GDSs while Engro ENGRO +2.48% seemed to be catching up the index recovery.”
Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Mohammad Mobeen said volumes remained high amid a high level of interest shown by foreign institutions.
Trade volumes rose to 168 million shares compared to Wednesday’s tally of 125 million.
Shares of 363 companies were traded on Thursday. Of these, 149 companies declined, 197 closed higher while 17 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.3 billion.
Bank Alfalah was the volume leader with 18 million shares, gaining Rs1.12 to close at Rs29.63. It was followed by Lafarge Pakistan with 11.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.43 to close at Rs8.09 and Askari Bank with 9.6 million shares, losing Rs0.45 to close at Rs21.97.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs73 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2014.
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