RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: Bulls roared back on the back of the news of a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday. The KSE-100 Index witnessed a jump of 362 points to close at 29,458 points amid healthy volumes.
During the intraday trading, the index touched 29,474 highest and 29,095 lowest levels. The trading side also registered growth and the volumes at the ready counter rose to 391.632 million shares from 386.665 million shares. Market capitalisation followed suit and closed in green zone at Rs7.082 trillion against previous Rs7.009 trillion.
“Increasing foreign inflows in energy and other big sectors would lead the KSE-100 Index to the 30,000 level in April,” Zafar Moti, Chairman ZMC Securities said. He said Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari meeting, Ishaq Dar’s statement about economic development and other issues reflected positively at KSE on the third day of the current week. Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed all-time high on renewed foreign interest in oil and banking stocks on S&P and Moody’s rating agencies indication for improved ratings on performance.
He said speculations ahead of quarter-end earning announcements and strong rupee appreciation against the dollar amid expectations for major FX inflows on Eurobonds receipts and 3G/4G telecom licence auctions on April 23 played a catalyst role in bullish activity at KSE.
Out of total 381 active stocks, a good number of 205 posted gains, 145 lost their worth while rates of 31 cos remained unchanged.
Two top gainers for the day were Rafhan Maize, which shot up by Rs521.50 to Rs10951.50 and Philip Morris Pak, which climbed by Rs35.26 to Rs740.59. The top losers were Bata (Pak) SPOT, which shed Rs96.98 to Rs3302.92 and Sanofi-Aventis SPOT, which lost Rs53.08 to Rs1019.72.
Among the top 10 companies, Jahangir Siddiqui Company led the list with 33m shares. It gained 44 paisa to Rs13.59; NIB Bank Limited increased by 16 paisa to Rs2.81 on 33m shares; and JS Bank improved by 56 paisa to close at Rs6.66 on 20m shares.
Bank Al-Falah XD gained Rs1.08 to close at Rs28.58 on 17m shares; K-Electric witnessed addition of five paisa to reach Rs6.78 on 17m shares; and Faysal Bank improved by 59 paisa to close at Rs16.39 on 17m shares.
Bank of Punjab decreased by four paisa to close at Rs11.24 on 16m shares; National Bank XD gained Rs3.05 to close at Rs63.08 on 16m shares; TRG Pakistan bagged 84 paisa to close at Rs14.89 on 14m shares; and Maple Leaf Cement gained seven paisa to close at Rs30.27 on 14m shares.
