KARACHI, Oct 12: Stocks on Tuesday maintained their winning streak as investors were not inclined to miss the rising market and an attractive bait of capital appreciation notably on the energy counter because of a steep rise in world oil prices and perceptions of higher profit margins.

"A steep increase in daily turnover figure reflects that depressants such as capital value tax (CVT) and fears of a massive fresh float from the carryover market may not have any relevance to the recent bearish domination," brokers said.

The KSE 100-share index breached through the psychological barrier of 5,400 points as buying euphoria aided by reports of the privatization of PSO and PTCL was further intensified at the still attractively lower levels on selected counters.

But analysts believe massive funds invested in the real estate during the last couple of months in speculative trading are progressively trickling back into the share business followed by central bank curbs on bank credits.

The market had witnessed a huge outflow of funds from the share market to the property business, causing a sharp rise in prices of residential plots, flats and bungalows.

A large amount of cash invested in the bullion market was also back in the market after gold rates soared to a near-saturation point of Rs8,200 per 10 grams. The KSE 100-share index broke the third barrier during the last couple of sessions, reflecting that together with higher dividend announcements the attractive bait of capital appreciations never allows investors to go for other investment options, they said.

It finally finished at around 5,421.07, up 48.94 points, signalling that the target of 5,600 index level may now not be that elusive. It last week broke through the barrier of 5,200 and 5,300. The market capital also rose by Rs12.076bn at Rs1,537.171 billion.

Energy shares continued to benefit from the record increase in world crude prices and again led to the market advance followed by fertilizer and bank shares amid reports of higher interim earnings. "Security concerns are there but investors seem to have chosen to go by the market fundamentals rather than discouraged by the external factors," brokers said.

Reports that the Privatization Commission will invite fresh expression of interest for the sell-off of PSO and PTCL after the presidential nod is expected to keep the market in a good shape also as all the heavy weights in the index could scale new highs in the coming weeks on the strength of fresh covering purchases.

Plus signs again dominated the list under the lead of Wyeth Pakistan, which posted a fresh rise of Rs70, followed by Pakistan Refinery, National Refinery, Atlas Honda, AKD Securities and Siemens Pakistan, which posted gains ranging from Rs10.40 to Rs30. There were several other good gainers also.

Losers were led by Colgate Pakistan, off Rs110 followed by Fazal Textiles, Noon Textiles, Bannu Woollen, Pakistan Engineering and Grays of Cambridge, off Rs2 to Rs6.95.

Trading volume rose to 359m shares from the previous 279m shares thanks to active covering purchases in most of the pivotals. Gainers held a strong lead over the losers at 201 to 137, with 48 shares holding on to the last levels.

Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim topped the list of actives, up 30 paisa at Rs21.45 on 42m shares followed by PTCL, higher also by the same amount at Rs44.75 on 33m shares, National Bank, firm by 10 paisa at Rs71.70 on 21m shares, Sui Northern Gas, higher by 1.70 paisa at Rs58.30 on 19m shares and PICIC Growth Fund, up Rs2.85 at Rs45.95 on 19m shares.

Other actives were led by Bank of Punjab, higher by 80 paisa on 19m shares, Sui Southern Gas, up 55 paisa on 17m shares, Askari Bank, higher by 80 paisa on 14m shares, MCB, lower 15 paisa on 13m shares and Hub-Power, up 15 paisa on 12m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: OGDCL came in for active buying and finished higher by 55 paisa at Rs65.70 on 14m shares followed by PTCL, up 50 paisa at Rs40.55 on 13m shares, and PPL, off 95 paisa at Rs119.60 on 9m shares.