KARACHI, Oct 26: Stocks on Friday maintained their upward drive and finished the week on a higher note aided by strong local and foreign buying in the leading oil shares notably OGDC and Pakistan Petroleum followed by reports of a record rise in world oil prices.
If all goes well on the political and legal front, analysts predict the weekend rally could well prove a take off point for the index to hit its new target of 15,000 points.
The KSE 100-share index closed with an extended gain of 88.83 points at 14,449.98 points as compared to 14,361.15 a day earlier as all the leading base shares remained in active demand and tended further higher.
The early week sell-off on the oil, bank and cement sectors was the chief factor behind the renewed run-up as both local institutional traders and foreign investors covered positions in them at the lower levels enabling the index to resume its upward march, they said.
In market parlance, the weekend rally always leads to a robust opening when trading resumes next week as investors do not care for negative news during the intervening two closures perhaps on some “positive news,” some others said.
“The market has already undergone technical correction during the last three sessions,” said an analyst, adding “bulls are not inclined to unload their long positions at this stage and are building up positions on selected counters”.
But some others said the next week could be very crucial for the future direction of the market as the Supreme Court is expected to give its ruling on the eligibility of the president as a presidential candidate for the second term.
“The corporate strength of the market would be tested by the middle of the next month when some of the important events will unfold themselves,” they said, adding “if it absorbs any shock the index level of 15,000 points may not be an elusive goal then”.
Leading gainers were led by Fazal Textiles and Siemens Pakistan up by Rs18.70 and Rs36, while National Refinery and Pakistan Resource Co fell by Rs20.85 and Rs21.
Other gainers included Pakistan Petroleum, Dawood Hercules, Sanofi-Aventis, ICI Pakistan, Packages, Bata Pakistan, National Foods and Pakistan Services, which posted gains ranging from Rs10 to Rs16.
Losers were followed by IGI Insurance, National Refinery, Pakistan Refinery, Sitara Chemicals and Nestle Pakistan, off by Rs14.40 to Rs20.85.
Trading volume showed a modest rise at 282m shares from the previous 272m shares as gainers held a modest lead over the losers at 180 to 153,with 33 shares holding on to the last levels.
OGDC topped the list of actives, up Rs4.05 at Rs128.70 on 44m shares followed by Pakistan Petroleum, higher by Rs11.20 at Rs265 on 20m shares and Arif Habib Securities, off Rs3.15 at Rs176.35 on 15m shares.
Bank of Punjab, lower by Rs1.70 at Rs103.30 on 10m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, steady by five paisa at Rs103.75 on 9m shares and ICI Pakistan, sharply higher by Rs11.15 at Rs234.30 also on 9m shares.
Other actives were led by Pak PTA, steady by five paisa on 18m shares, followed by Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, lower by 10 paisa on 9m shares, Worldcall Telecom, easy by 50 paisa also on 9m shares and Nimir Chemicals, firm by five paisa on 8m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: OGDC also topped the list of actives on the cleared list, up by Rs3.60 at Rs129.50 on 9m shares, followed by Pakistan Petroleum, higher by Rs11.40 at Rs267.50 on 7m shares and PTCL, steady by 15 paisa at Rs51.15 on 6m shares, while its November contract fell by 20 paisa at Rs51.60 also on 6m shares.
Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, was quoted unchanged at Rs46.05 on 5m shares, while others were modestly traded on the higher side.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Zeal Pak Cement led the list of most actives, easy by 10 paisa on 2.771m shares followed by Quice Foods, up Re1 at Rs5.70 on 0.898m shares, Asset Bank, higher by Re1 at Rs7.10 on 0.498m shares.
Japan Power followed them, easy by 10 paisa at Rs8.50 on 0.427m shares and Norrie Textiles, steady by five paisa at Rs2.20 on 0.210m shares.
DIVIDEND: OGDC, interim at 17.50 per cent and Paramount Modaraba at 11 per cent.
