Market watch: Equities continue to rise

Benchmark 100-share index gains 331.96 points.

KARACHI: The index ended positive for the third successive session with increased foreign buying and news on a sales tax cut on petroleum products fuelling the rally.

Amid high volumes, the index broke past the 34,000-point barrier before losing some of its shine towards the end of the day.

At close on Tuesday, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index recorded a rise of 0.99% or 331.96 points to end at 33,895.34.

According to an analyst at Topline Securities, the cement sector rallied after the approval of higher-than-earlier-estimated development expenditure budget of Rs1.5 trillion.



“Major activity was seen in mid-tier stocks, like K-Electric, Pakistan Elektron, Ghani Automobiles,” they said.

Meanwhile, Arif Habib Corporation’s Ahsan Mehanti was of the view that pre-budget rally continued at the market amid higher trades led by oil, cement and banking stocks after the Federal Board of Revenue slashed sales tax rates on petroleum products and the National Economic Council’s approval of Rs1.5 trillion development outlay and expectations on pro-banking sector federal budget.

“Strong institutional interest on favourable CPI Inflation data, record PSDP commitments in the federal budget and hike in local POL prices played a catalyst role in bullish activity at the KSE,” added Mehanti.

Trade volumes increased to 316 million shares compared to 261 million on Monday.



Shares of 377 companies were traded on Tuesday. Of these, 205 companies closed higher, 142 fell and 30 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs16.2 billion.

K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 32.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs8.04. It was followed by Pak Elektron Limited with 20.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.30 to close at Rs69.13 and Ghani Automobile with 16.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs9.06.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs1.32 billion worth of shares during the session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2015.

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