KARACHI, Jan 24: Stocks on Monday resumed trading on a bullish note as bulls were not inclined to take even a technical breather apparently before attaining the index level of 7,000 points.
As a result, new records were established both in terms of index level and price flare-up in some of the individual shares.
The KSE 100-share index, therefore, maintained its upward drive where it left before the Eid holidays and finished higher by 115.57 points or 1.71 per cent at 6,861.97 boosted by fresh massive foreign buying in PTCL and OGDC. Market capital also rose by Rs28bn to Rs1,892bn owing to steep rise in the share value of PTCL, OGDC, PSO and some other pivotals.
At one stage it was close to cross the second barrier of 6,900 after having breached through the 6,800 in a session and rose to 6,893.00, only seven points short of its nearest target but late-selling at the inflated levels pushed it down to finish well below the day's peak level.
"The index level 7,000 points now appears to be not that ambitious. The advent of foreign buying in the top index shares - PTCL and OGDC - has altogether changed the future market outlook", analysts said.
"It appears pretty difficult to rope in the bulls at this stage," some others said "they are targeting the two index heavy weights, PTCL and OGDC, having a weightage of 40 per cent in it".
The attractive bait of sell-off of PTCL and some other state-owned mega units is there but the current buying euphoria in part was also attributed to the upgrading of Pakistan's sovereign foreign currency rating to positive by the Moody's after the successful launch of the Islamic bond of $500m and its massive over subscription and falling foreign debt, they said.
An idea of the scramble to corner floating stock of PTCL well before its privatization before June this year may well be had from the fact that not only its share value is appreciating each session but also massive volume. It was close to its Rs60 mark toward the close.
The interesting feature was that despite conflicting news from Balochistan situation, investors generally followed the market dictates rather than having an overview of its possible fallout on stock trading.
On the corporate front, an interim dividend of 80 per cent by Shell Pakistan seems to have fallen below market expectations as was reflected by sharp decline in its share value in post-dividend trading.
All eyes are now focused on the board meeting of Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, which has also assumed the role of an active scrip before a possible payout announcement. Textile shares led the market advance on rising prospects of higher sales on the export front and some of them rose sharply higher in the absence of sellers.
Leading gainers were led by Bhanero Textiles, Artistic Denim, International Industries and AKD Securities, up by Rs10 to Rs50.50 followed by Sapphire Textiles, Gul Ahmed Textiles, Nishat Mills, PSO, Zulfiqar Industries, Faisal Spinning, Babari Cotton, Central Insurance and Indus Dyeing, which posted gains ranging from Rs6 to Rs9.50.
Losses on the other hand were fractional barring Bolan Casting, Pakistan Engineering, Shahtaj Sugar, and Shafiq Textiles, off Rs3 to Rs8.15. Trading volume further rose to 742m shares from the previous 689m shares as gainers maintained a fair lead of over the losers at 196 to 166, with 43 shares holding on to the last levels.
PTCL again topped the list of most actives, up by Rs2.60 at Rs59 on 184m shares followed by OGDC, higher by Rs1.35 at Rs80.40 on 111m shares, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, firm by 70 paisa at Rs31.55 on 68m shares, Sui Southern Gas, sharply higher by Rs2.20 at Rs31.55 on renewed buying triggered by reports of restoration of gas to the industrial sector and PSO, up by Rs6.05 at Rs327.10 on 34m shares.
Other actives were led by Nishat Mills, sharply higher by Rs9.50 on 34m shares, Sui Northern Gas, up by Rs1.80 on 34m shares, D.G.Khan Cement, firm by 80 paisa on 30m shares, Lucky Cement, steady by 65 paisa on 28m shares and Pakistan Oilfields, higher by Rs2.50 on 21m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: PTCL also led the list of actives on this counter on strong speculative support, up by Rs2.45 at Rs59.20 on 39m shares followed by PPL, off Rs1.20 at Rs141.80 on 16m shares, and Sui Southern Gas, higher by Rs2.21 at Rs31.71 on 12m shares and OGDC, higher by 83 paisa at Rs80.03 also on 12m shares.
PSO, Nishat Mills, ICI Pakistan and some others also rose on active short covering at the lower levels. The notable feature was that trading also resumed in February contracts sides by the maturing January settlements.
DEFAULTER COS: Trading on this counter was relatively slow as investors remained busy in the ready section. However, Pangrio Sugar came in for active support and rose by Rs1.50 at Rs4.75 on 0.405m shares followed by Crescent Board, lower five paisa at Rs12.50 on 0.106m shares.
