Market watch: Index ends week with a round of bull rally

Benchmark 100-share index gains 281.71 points.

KARACHI: A positive open gave way to volatile trading as the index finished its see-saw ride in the black to end the week on a high. Oil stocks took a battering following a bearish sentiment in international crude, however, bulls took the lead in cements and financials to help the sectors close on their upper limits.  

At close on Friday, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE)-100 Index closed at 31,413.96 on Thursday, registering an increase of 0.90% or 281.71 points.

“Oil stocks fell in the negative territory with index heavy Oil and Gas Development Company  (OGDC PA -2.89%) , Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL PA -2.34%) and Pakistan Oil Fields (POL PA -4.85%), that went on to hit lower price limit towards the close,” said Haris Ahmed Batla of Elixir Securities.



“Second-tier illiquid and prime beneficiaries of declining oil prices, namely Berger Paints (BERG PA +5%) and Ittehad Chemicals (ICL PA +5%) also managed to close at their upper price limits while volumes chart remained dominated by small cap retail plays.

“We expect the market to consolidate at current levels following sharp recovery of around 10% in last four trading sessions while we remain optimistic on the index over improving macros and the expected visit of the Chinese president due this month,” he said.

Trade volumes rose to 285 million shares compared to 201 million on Thursday.



Shares of 362 companies were traded on the last trading session of the week. Of these, 75 companies declined, 270 closed higher and 17 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.6 billion.

TRG Pakistan Limited was the volume leader with 28.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.97 to close at Rs15.91. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 22.8 million shares, gaining Rs2.41 to close at Rs50.78 and Japan Power with 19.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.58 to close at Rs3.83.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs262 million worth of shares during the session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2015.

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