KARACHI, April 27: Stocks on Wednesday finished with an extended gain as followed up support in the energy shares generated a lot of covering purchases on the other blue chip counters including fertilizer and banks. The index added another 111 points at 7,275.74 and Rs31bn to the market capital.
The market appears to be settling down after last couple of weeks’ terrible uncertainty as dividend driven rally manifested itself in a big way for the second session in a row, notably on the energy counter.
OGDC, after the announcement of third interim dividend at the rate of 17.5 per cent, PSO, National Bank, Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields again led the market advance on active short-covering at the lower levels.
Alone on technical grounds, the market is ripe for a grand rebound and may perform as such until the end of the current month as by that time corporate announcements by most of the leading companies, notably from the cement and some other sectors would be out.
The SECP and KSE need to focus on confidence-building measures so that the bad days of late March may not be repeated again.
The KSE 100-share index recovered another 111.01 points at 7,275.74 points as compared to 7,164.73 points a day earlier as all the leading base shares with the exception of PTCL tended further higher amid active trading. The day’s lowest and highest were touched at 7,155.60 and 7,310.27 respectively.
“The index may not regain the lost glory or record index level of 10,303 points in the near future, it appears also difficult to push it down from its prevailing chart point as indications are that it may fluctuate between 7,000 and 8,000 points”, some analysts predict.
They apparently base their assessment on the heavy losses suffered by a section of leading investors during the recent market crash and badly shaken general confidence.
There are also some broker reservations about the margin financing in place of COT and allied technical implications as they generally play safe and mostly on risk-free counters.
Nestle MilkPak and Artistic Denim were among the leading gainers, up by Rs25 and Rs12.70, followed by Pakistan Oilfields, EFU Life, PNSC, Shezan International, Noon Pakistan, Atlas Honda, PPL, Dawood Hercules and PSO, which posted gains ranging from Rs4.45 to Rs10.50.
Prominent losers were lead by IGI Insurance and Unilever Pakistan, off Rs11 and Rs19 respectively. Century Papers, International Industries, Millat Tractors, Al-Ghazi Tractors, and Gatron Industries were other losers, off Rs4.65 to Rs7.90.
Trading volume further rose to 319m shares from the previous 216m shares as gainers held a comfortable lead over the losers at 162 to 136, with 41 shares holding on to the last levels.
OGDC topped the list of most actives, up by Rs2.70 at Rs100 on 75m shares, followed by PTCL, lower 65 paisa at Rs63.05 on 59m shares, D.G.Khan Cement, easy 30 paisa at Rs60.25 on 26m shares, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, off 60 paisa at Rs29.85 on 23m shares, PSO, sharply higher by Rs10.50 at Rs375.50 on 21m shares.
Other actives included National Bank, up by Rs1.50 at Rs98 on 18m shares, Pakistan Petroleum, higher by Rs7.15 at Rs171.75 on 12m shares, MCB, up by Rs3.50 at Rs74 on 10m shares and Sui Northern Gas, higher by Rs2.70 at Rs57.20 on 9m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: PPL came in for strong covering purchases and rose by Rs8.22 at Rs172.62 on 9m shares followed by OGDC, higher by Rs2.59 at Rs100.50 on 6m shares and PTCL, lower 45 paisa at Rs63.15 on 4m shares.
But PSO on the other hand maintained its upward drive and rose by another Rs10 at Rs376 on 4m shares and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, lower 16 paisa also on 4m shares. Others also ended recovered under the lead of fertilizer and energy shares. Odd rates in some of the leading shares reflect that both buyers and sellers are inclined to maintain the status quo.
DEFAULTER COS: Investors and brokers did not make fresh commitments on this counter as they remained busy in portfolio adjustments in the ready section. There was no noticeable deal on any of the counters.
DIVIDEND: Fauji Fertilizer Co, cash interim 25 per cent, bonus shares 15 per cent, Crescent Steel, cash second interim 10 per cent, United Insurance, right shares at the rate of 30 per cent.
