Weekly Review: Stock market up again, 1.4% this time
Oil and banking sector does most of the talking in shortened week.
KARACHI:
The bourse continued its upward trend in the shortened week led by banking and oil stocks, as the market gained 166 points or 1.4 per cent, on a weekly basis, to close at 11,786 points.
The three-day shortened week owing to Ashura holidays also witnessed average daily volumes shrink 19 per cent to 148 million shares, which is a usual trend seen before most public holidays.
The market ignored all political concerns, including the dismissals of Syed Hamid Raza Kazmi as minister for religious affairs and Mohammad Azam Khan Swati as minister for science and technology and a political party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), pulling out of the federal alliance.
Foreigners continue buying spree
Foreigners continued their buying spree with a net investment of $22.6 million in just three days, informed JS Global Capital analyst Rabia Tariq.
The week also saw the highest single-day foreign investment since September 2009 of $19.5 million.
BP asset sale news and the oil sector
After rejecting a joint bid from Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), BP accepted UEG’s offer for the purchase of most of its local assets for $775 million.
The sale of BP’s Pakistani assets stirred up better sentiments in the markets as it showed that the oil sector is worth more than its current levels, commented an analyst.
This led the oil and gas sector to gain two per cent during the last trading session, wrote Tariq in a company research report.
PPL failed to acquire BP but ended the week gaining 4.9 per cent to close at Rs208.15.
UBL news and the banking sector
Furthermore, the Abu Dhabi Group’s (ABG) consideration of offloading its strategic stake in UBL helped generate interest in the scrip which gained three per cent on a weekly basis to close at Rs65.51.
Economic data remains mixed
Remittance data continued to be among the most improved data sets, with the inflow of money rising by eight per cent to $927 million on a monthly basis in November. Foreign investment, however, was recorded down by seven per cent to $143 million in November, compared with the same period last year. Moreover, unofficial figures released for November show that the trade gap is ballooning to $1.6 billion, with imports rising faster than the exports.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2010.
The bourse continued its upward trend in the shortened week led by banking and oil stocks, as the market gained 166 points or 1.4 per cent, on a weekly basis, to close at 11,786 points.
The three-day shortened week owing to Ashura holidays also witnessed average daily volumes shrink 19 per cent to 148 million shares, which is a usual trend seen before most public holidays.
The market ignored all political concerns, including the dismissals of Syed Hamid Raza Kazmi as minister for religious affairs and Mohammad Azam Khan Swati as minister for science and technology and a political party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), pulling out of the federal alliance.
Foreigners continue buying spree
Foreigners continued their buying spree with a net investment of $22.6 million in just three days, informed JS Global Capital analyst Rabia Tariq.
The week also saw the highest single-day foreign investment since September 2009 of $19.5 million.
BP asset sale news and the oil sector
After rejecting a joint bid from Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), BP accepted UEG’s offer for the purchase of most of its local assets for $775 million.
The sale of BP’s Pakistani assets stirred up better sentiments in the markets as it showed that the oil sector is worth more than its current levels, commented an analyst.
This led the oil and gas sector to gain two per cent during the last trading session, wrote Tariq in a company research report.
PPL failed to acquire BP but ended the week gaining 4.9 per cent to close at Rs208.15.
UBL news and the banking sector
Furthermore, the Abu Dhabi Group’s (ABG) consideration of offloading its strategic stake in UBL helped generate interest in the scrip which gained three per cent on a weekly basis to close at Rs65.51.
Economic data remains mixed
Remittance data continued to be among the most improved data sets, with the inflow of money rising by eight per cent to $927 million on a monthly basis in November. Foreign investment, however, was recorded down by seven per cent to $143 million in November, compared with the same period last year. Moreover, unofficial figures released for November show that the trade gap is ballooning to $1.6 billion, with imports rising faster than the exports.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2010.