RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: Sentiment at the Karachi share market stayed bullish led by investors’ interest in select stocks Tuesday. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 110 points to close at 30,180 points compared to 30,070 points Monday.
Commenting on the market situation, Ahsan Mehanti, Director at Arif Habib Securities, said stocks continued to witness a positive trend led by select banking, cement and oil stocks on strong earnings outlook.
Rising local cement prices, new gas discovery of PPL & MARI in Sindh, higher urea offtake in August 2014 and expectations for higher turnout for IPO Engro Powergen next week played a catalytic role in the bullish activity at KSE, he added.
Falling FDI at 37pc in July-Aug and reports for the delay in $550 million of the IMF 5th tranche release due to prevailing political crises impacted the sentiment, he said.
The market, during the intraday trading, fluctuated in green and red zones as KSE-100 index touched 30,277 points highest and 30,017 points lowest level. Followed by positive activity, volume at the ready counter increased by 47 percent compared to previous session and the overall 195 million shares were traded Tuesday against 133 million shares Monday.
With an increase of Rs 12 billion, market capitalisation reached Rs 7.032 trillion up from Rs 7.020 trillion. Trading took place in 406 companies, of which 190 closed in green zone, 194 in the red while 22 companies remained unchanged.
Samar Iqbal, analyst at Topline Securities, said led by cements, the market comfortably gained 110 points to settle at 30,180 points level. Volumes increased to 195 million shares, while the value remained at $91 million.
News of increase in local cement prices coupled with DGKC’s better than expected June results brought cement stocks in the limelight, while renewed interest was also seen in banking stocks, especially FABL, NBP, HBL and MCB, she added.
Among top 10 volume leaders, eight companies recorded a positive trend. Banking sector was the limelight of the day and Faysal Bank emerged the volume leader with 23.3 million shares, gaining Re 1 to close at Rs 18.62. Askari Bank stood second, up Re 0.24 to close at Rs 21.68 on 19.4 million shares. Lafarge Pak ranked third with 17 million shares, gaining Re 0.32 to Rs 16.10. With a trading volume of 15 million shares, Maple Leaf Cement lost Re 0.34 to Rs 28.48.
D.G.K Cement moved up by Rs 2.03 to Rs 82.54 on 12 million shares. Some 11.3 million shares of Pak Electron were traded and the scrip closed at Rs 29.70, down Re 0.76. National Bank increased by Rs 1.75 to Rs 60.52 on 6.6 million shares, and B.O.Punjab inched up by Re 0.08 to Rs 8.10 on 4.2 million shares.
With a trading volume of 4.2 million shares, K-Electric gained Re 0.14 to close at Rs 8.45 while Bank Al-Falah closed at Rs 28.81, up Re 0.05 on 3.6 million shares.
Unilever Foods and Bata (Pak) were the top gainers with Rs 340.00 and Rs 97.00 to close at Rs 8,850.00 and Rs 3,150.00, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Philip Morris Pak were the top losers with Rs 161.11 and Rs 36.09 to close at Rs 10,400.00 and Rs 728.91, respectively.
Analysts said ‘LUCK’ witnessed euphoric buying on Tuesday following the board’s approval of equity investment amounting to Rs27 billion for a 660MW coal-based power project in Karachi. The decision of the company not to announce a rights issue created a positive sentiment in the sector.
In the oil & gas sector, Pakistan Petroleum attracted investor interest after its second discovery in Sindh of 18.6mmcfd gas and 31bpd condensate, they added. “We expect the market to remain volatile due to the ongoing political tensions,” they said.
