12 January 2005	Wednesday	01 Zilhaj 1425

KARACHI, Jan 11: The Karachi bourse on Tuesday crossed three consecutive psychological barriers and settled firmly at 6,710.00.

It posted a largest-single session gain of 226 points or 3.5 per cent (about 10 per cent during the last couple of sessions), adding Rs61.00bn to the market capital at Rs1,859.00bn. The volume figure also attained its second best figure in a session at 1.029bn shares.

Stocks up by 226 points on speculative buying

KARACHI, Jan 11: The KSE 100-share index on Tuesday broke through three consecutive barriers as upcountry punters were not inclined to loosen their grip on the price line and continued to build-up long positions on the leading base shares.

Never before in the history of the KSE the index has been the target of speculative rise in a single-session, its previous all-time high record being 194.78 points established on Dec 1, 2003 on reports of peace initiatives with India and its positive response.

The KSE 100-share index breached through the barriers of 6,500, 6,600 and 6,700 in a single session to finally finished at 6,710.03, up 225.89 points as leading base shares, notably PTCL, OGDC and PSO, having about 45 per cent weightage in the index soared to their new career-best levels.

Volume figure at 1.029bn shares was also close to its previous single-session all-time figure being 1.122bn shares established on April 16, 2004, out of which PTCL and OGDC alone accounting for 442m shares.

The market has entered a terribly high-risk area and is standing on an avalanche, which could mar its future outlook jolting the recently built-up investor confidence in the share business if it was not contained by some official corrective steps, brokers fear.

In similar conditions as the prevailing ones, authorities should take step to safeguard the interest of small savers and investors who could be major losers in the current fight of bulls and bears, they said.

"The current price flare-up is terribly speculative and could leave behind a long list of casualties after the punters behind it opt for profit-taking and small investors could be the worst-hit," analysts said.

"It a straight fight between a couple of upcountry based speculators assisted by some of the locals to grab the floating stock of pivotals where the chances of a major fall are almost negligible", some others said.

It appears to be a great speculative game signalling that the market is heading to set new record both in terms of individual turnover and the index levels. "It is not that difficult to push the index to any level by picking up the leading base shares", analysts said "but the important factor is that other sectors are also participating".

While day traders have withdrawn to the sidelines, institutional traders are also playing on short-term basis and are not inclined to hold long positions fearing there could be a worst scenario after the bubble bursts.

Plus signs again dominated the list, major gainers being Faisal Spinning, Pakistan Oilfields, IGI Insurance, PSO, Nestle MilkPak, Arif Habib Securities, AKD Securities, Siemens Pakistan and Wyeth Pakistan, up by Rs8.25 to Rs48. There were several other good gainers also.

Losers were led by Bhanero Textiles, Gadoon Textiles, Nishat Chunian, Gatron Industries, and International Industries, off Rs5 to Rs12. Trading volume soared to 1.029 billion shares as gainers maintained a strong lead over the losers at 228 to 186, with 44 shares holding on to the last levels.

PTCL again topped the list of most actives, up by Rs3.70 at Rs53.30 on 218m shares, OGDC, higher by Rs5.50 at Rs79 on 207m shares, PSO, sharply higher by Rs13.75 at Rs328.75 on 59m shares, Hub-Power, firm by Rs1.20 at Rs32.60 on 59m shares and D.G.Khan Cement, higher by Rs3.05 at Rs60 on 58m shares.

Other actives were led by Pakistan Oilfields, higher by Rs8.25 on 41m shares, Sui Southern Gas, steady 85 paisa on 39m shares, National Bank, off 35 paisa on 34m shares, Sui Northern Gas, up by Re1 on 30m shares and Bank of Punjab, firm 35 paisa on 28m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: PTCL again led the list of actives, up by Rs3.70 at Rs53.40 on 37m shares followed by OGDC, higher by Rs5.55 at Rs79.55 on 33m shares, PPL, firm by Rs1.50 at Rs144.50 on 17m shares.

PSO, rose by Rs12.25 at Rs328 on 11m shares, while Pakistan Oilfields was quoted higher by Rs6.40 at Rs255.30 on 10m shares. Engro Chemicals and some other leading shares also showed good gains.

DEFAULTER COS: Crescent-Standard Bank came in for stray selling and fell by 30 paisa at Rs16.40 on 0.609m shares followed by Zahoor Cotton, up by 55 paisa at Rs3 on 0.236m shares and Mukhtar Textiles, higher by 50 paisa at Rs10.50 on 0.164m shares. Some others were also actively traded on the higher side.

DIVIDEND: Sunrays Cotton, cash 10 per cent, Dewan Mushtaq Textiles, Dewan Textiles, and Dewan Khalid Textiles, each bonus shares at the rate of 10 per cent, Sapphire Fibre and Sapphire Textiles, both cash 15 per cent and Ruby Textiles, cash five per cent.