Market watch: Index ends marginally in the black

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 20.83 points.

KARACHI: The index opened on a high before profit-takers reduced its climb in the black.

At close, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.06% or 20.83 points.

Elixir analyst Faisal Bilwani said Pakistan equities closed the last day amid little excitement. “The day saw a trendless market,” said Bilwani. “Investors mostly shuffled positions and traded cautiously ahead of the weekend with participants looking forward to State Bank’s policy announcement.

“Financials gained on institutional buying with MCB Bank (MCB, +1.5%) closing at fresh record high while National Bank (NBP, +1.16%) also gained on a healthy turnover on payout excitement.



“Cements were mixed and struggled to find a clear direction on profit taking while oils were under pressure tracking global crude,” said Bilwani.

Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said oil stocks led the benchmark index higher as crude oil price recovered further.

“K- Electric (+4.15%) remained in the limelight due to the news of agreement for 650MW supply to K-Electric might be renewed.

“Byco spiked up 7% due to a rumour over the company getting a contract to supply fuel to a major IPP.”

Trade volumes fell to 344 million shares compared to 399 million on Thursday.

Shares of 392 companies were traded on Friday. Of these, 210 companies declined, 163 closed higher and 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.7 billion.



Jahangir Siddiqui and Company was the volume leader with 37.1 million shares, losing Rs0.06 to close at Rs17.34. It was followed by K-Electric Limited with 32.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs10.28 and the Bank of Punjab with 15.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.11 to close at Rs10.93.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs663 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, January 17^th,  2015.

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