KARACHI, April 5: Heavy buying in the leading shares on Monday pushed the KSE 100-share index above the barrier of 5,200 points and analysts predict it could well prove the beginning of its march to the next chart point of 6,000 level.
The breach is important as it came amid fears of law and order situation after the killing of five city policemen in a terrorist attack, they said.
Reports of cut both in corporate and GST to 25 and 12 per cent respectively in the new federal budget appears to be the chief stimulating factor behind the run-up, they added.
It finally ended around 5,228.30, up 66.70 points or 1.29 per cent over the weekend close of 5,161.60 thanks to active short-covering in OGDC and PTCL, which together hold a weightage of 34 per cent in it. The market capital swelled by Rs14.895bn at Rs1,396.154bn
The market's sustained fresh rise reflects that investors were not deterred by reports of an attack on a local police station early on Sunday morning, killing five policemen, brokers said.
"With the inclusion of the OGDC, having a weightage of 21 per cent in the recomposed index came on the board from April 1, the talk of the index level of 6,000 now appears not that ambitious", a leading stock analyst says "it could now rise to any high if all goes well on the political and law and order front".
Other analysts said the reported cut of three per cent in the general sales tax from 15 to 12 per cent will have a far reaching positive impact both on industrial productivity and exports as it will lower the cost of inputs and bulls aptly cashed in on the reports.
"The possible cut in the new national budget in mid-June also reflects the confidence of foreign donors on the health of economy and in a way a clean bill for the official financial and economic policies", they said.
Leading banking, fertilizer, telecom and blue chips on the other counters also came in for active short-covering at the lower levels contributing significantly to the market run-up beyond the index level of 5,000.
Instances of profit-selling at the inflated levels were, however, not lacking, notably in some of the cement shares but major losers were led by Noon Sugar, Honda Atlas, Island Textiles, Arif Habib Securities, Wyeth Pakistan and Javed Omer, which suffered sharp fall ranging from Rs3.40 to Rs30.05, the largest fall being in Wyeth Pakistan and Javed Omer.
But on the other hand leading shares, such as Fauji Fertilizer, PICIC, Haroon Oils, Askari Bank, Cherat Cement, Lakson Tobacco, Dawood Hercules, Aventis, Berger Paints posted gains ranging from Rs4 to Rs5.75.
The largest rise was, however, recorded in Al-Ghazi Tractors, Hinopak Motors, Cherat Papers, Siemens Pakistan, Unilever Pakistan and Shell Pakistan, up Rs6.50 to Rs31.
Meanwhile, the KSE board has cleared the provisional listing of Bank Al-Falah, which is expected to float its shares for public subscription during the next couple of sessions.
Trading volume showed a decline as leading investors did not indulge in profit-selling anticipating further rise in prices, falling at 625m shares from the previous 665m shares but advancing shares maintained a strong lead over the losing ones at 236 to 137, with 55 shares holding on to the last levels.
PTCL, topped the list of most actives, up by 70 paisa at Rs41.30 on 63m shares, FF Bin Qasim Fertilizer, firm by 50 paisa at Rs22.85 on 57m shares, Fauji Cement, steady 30 paisa at Rs15.45 on 56m shares, OGDC, up 15 paisa at Rs61.60 on 55m shares and National Bank, higher by Rs3.60 at Rs67.85 on 47m shares.
Other actives were led by Sui Northern Gas, up by 85 paisa on 34m shares, MCB, higher by Rs2.05 on 31m shares, PIAC, up by 45 paisa on 28m shares, Nishat Mills, firm by 70 paisa on 23m shares and D.G.Khan Cement, lower five paisa on 22m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: PTCL also led the list of actives on the cleared list, up by 55 paisa at Rs41.35 on 7m shares followed by FF Bin Qasim, higher 60 paisa at Rs22.95 on 6m shares and Sui Northern Gas, up by 60 paisa at Rs64.30 on 4m shares. Among the other actives, MCB was marked up by Rs1.90 at Rs53.95 on 3m shares and Fauji Fertilizer, sharply higher by Rs5.55 at Rs118.75 on 2m shares. Engro Chemical followed it, up by Rs1.20 at Rs103.20 on 1.320m shares.
DEFAULTER COS: Brisk trading was also witnessed on this counter under the lead of Suzuki Motorcycles, up by Rs1.95 at Rs28.55 on 0.611m shares followed by Apex Fabrics, higher by 45 paisa at Rs3.10 on 0.409m shares and Standard Investment Bank ahead of its board meeting on April 7, higher Rs1.50 at Rs9.70 on 0.404m shares. Some others were also actively traded.
DIVIDEND: Askari General Insurance, cash 15 per cent, Service Industries, cash 10 per cent, Hamid Textiles, nil.
BOARD MEETINGS: Standard Investment Bank, on April 7, Ibrahim Fibre, on April 9, and Faysal Bank, on April 16.
