KARACHI, March 30: Stocks on Wednesday maintained a recovery tempo followed by reports of steady inflow of both investments buying by institutional traders and bargain-hunting by speculative forces. “The market is slowly but steadily gaining strength on active short-covering in the pivotals and leading base shares, notably PTCL and National Bank, showed fresh smart rallies, and the breach of the barrier of 8,000 points reflects that the latest rise could be sustainable sans speculation,” some brokers believe.
The KSE 100-share index finished with an extended recovery of 230.42 points, breaching through the barrier of 8,000 at 8,085.56 after hitting the day’s best level of 8,346.42 as compared to 7,855.14 a day earlier. The market capital also recovered 73.289bn at Rs2,229.009bn.
The notable feature was that a tangible recovery manifested itself sans OGDC, which holds a weightage of 22 per cent in it and was one of the leading market movers along with PTCL, which push the index to an all-time high of 10,303 two weeks earlier. It fell by another Rs6.15, cumulative loss during the last two weeks being more than Rs100.
However, PTCL another heavyweight, assumed the role of trend-setter in OGDC’s place after adding another Rs5 to the overnight gain. The fresh buying in it is attributed to reports that China’s Mobile Corporation has shown its interest in buying its controlling shares when it is put on sale.
Verbal official advice to the KSE and leading brokerage houses to put the market back on the rails seems to be the chief motivating force behind the snap run-up.
“I would not call it an inspired rally as market’s technically oversold position warranted correction but its fallout could negative that could manifest itself in the coming session,” an analyst said.
“Few brokers could play havoc with the market but they need general support to correct the damage,” some others said, adding that badly shaken small investors’ confidence in stock trading could take many months to recover, and that too if they have the money to invest.
It is pretty difficult to predict the future direction of the market, as official warning alone is insufficient to lure investors back into the share business. A few fresh sessions will tell how it behaves.
Broader market again fared credibly well under the lead of second-liners and some pivotals, but still it is too early to say something about its future line of action, brokers said.
Smart gain strewn all over the list, major gainers being Clariant Pakistan, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Fauji Fertilizer, PSO, Shell Pakistan, Pakistan Oilfields, PPL, Arif Habib Securities, EFU General, Artistic Denim, Attock Refinery, Pakistan Refinery, National Refinery, Wyeth Pakistan and Parke-Davis, which posted gains ranging from Rs10.30 to Rs76.50.
It was pretty difficult to locate losing shares barring OGDC, Clover Pakistan, National Foods and AKD Securities, off Rs4.50 to Rs19.25.
The trading volume further rose to 447m shares from the previous 313m shares as gainers held a strong lead over losers 339 to 47, with 16 shares holding on to the last levels.
OGDC came in for renewed selling and fell by Rs6.15 at Rs117.40 on 106m shares followed by PTCL, sharply higher by Rs5 at Rs73.90 on 77m shares, Pak PTA, up Rs1.50 at Rs14.40 on 39m shares, National Bank, up by Rs8.20 at Rs122 on 17m shares and TRG Pakistan, higher by Rs1.30 at Rs14.85 on 16m shares.
Other actives were led by Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, up Rs2.15 on 16m shares, Sui Northern Gas, higher by Rs3.55 on 14m shares, PPL, up Rs15 also on 14m shares, DG Khan Cement, up Rs4.40 on 13m shares and PIAC, steady by 55 paisa on 13m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: Barring OGDC, which faces settlement problem and fell by another Rs2.10 at 121.40 on 24m shares, all others staged sharp rallies under the lead of PSO, Pakistan Oilfields and PPL, up by Rs17, Rs18 and Rs29.90, respectively.
PTCL was traded higher by Rs5.05 at Rs75.75 on 21m shares followed by PPL, up Rs17 on 19m shares and Sui Northern Gas, higher by Rs3.65 at Rs63.15 on 4m shares.
DEFAULTER COS: Crescent-Standard Bank led the list of actives on this counter, up Rs1.50 at Rs16.90 on 0.363m shares, followed by Dandot Cement, higher by the same amount at Rs11.50 on 0.160m shares and Asset Bank, higher by 60 paisa at Rs4.10 on 0.127m shares.
DIVIDENDS: Premier Insurance, cash 20 per cent, bonus shares of the same amount; New Jubilee Insurance, cash 30 per cent, bonus shares 15 per cent; New Jubilee Life, nil; and Network Microfinance Bank, nil.
