Market watch: Stocks rally on back of oil, banking sectors

KARACHI: The stock market rallied at full strength on Wednesday, marking the best session in the past two months.

The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index ended 1.74 per cent or 198.92 points higher at 11,629.93, its highest close since July 2008.

Bullish activity was witnessed across the board led by strong foreign buying in oil, banking and fertiliser scrips, said Arif Habib Investments Limited Director Ahsan Mehanti.

Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Pakistan Oilfields, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), MCB Bank and Habib Bank Limited stocks contributed 139.85 points or 70 per cent to the total index surge, according to Crosby Securities analyst Ovais Iqbal.

Pakistan Oilfields remained the star performer on talk of a discovery in Makori field which helped the stock close at its upper limit.

Trading volume jumped significantly by 65.4 per cent to 195.7 million shares compared with 118.3 million shares traded a day earlier.

OGDCL hit a new high of Rs170 and recorded decent gains after local institutions rebuilt their portfolios to compensate for the recent run-up.

Foreigners have been net buyers of shares worth $476 million so far this year, probably a reason for locals to get back in before the year ends, commented Elixir Securities equity dealer Sibtain Mustafa.

Shares of 409 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day, 238 stocks closed higher, 141 declined and 30 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.14 billion.

Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 34.29 million shares gaining Rs0.53 to finish at Rs13.16. It was followed by NBP with 14.33 million shares gaining Rs2.71 to close at Rs71.43 and Dewan Salman with 13.51 million shares firming Rs0.38 to close at Rs3.01.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2010.