May 22, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 16, 1429

KARACHI, May 21: The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index briefly breached through the barrier of 14,000 points on Wednesday, boosted by active short-covering in leading oil shares, followed by reports of a fresh hike in world oil prices, but failed to sustain it on mid-session selling triggered by reports of lowering of rating of Pakistan bonds by S&P. It ended with a clipped gain of 71.37 points at 13,974.49.

For the first time after several lean sessions, broader market showed signs of sustained recovery as blue chips on other counters also came in for active support at the lower levels and ended with good gains.

Official word on a positive national budget due possibly on June 7, ensuring relief to the common and tax relief for the trade and industry was another supporting factor behind the technical rally, analysts said.

The market’s return to sanity was also well-reflected in the performance of both the indexes, which, finally ended with a recovery of 71.37 points at 13,974.49 for the former, and its junior partner extended the overnight gain by another 166.00 points at 16,583.58.

Pakistan Petroleum, OGDC, Attock Refinery, PSO, Pakistan Oilfields and some of the leading bank shares, notably MCB Bank, remained in strong demand and pushed the index well above its current lows.

Unlike previous sessions, the performance of the broader market was credibly well and reflected the return of the bulls after some of the most immediate political depressants are fading out after reports of constitutional package, analysts said.

And it could lead to smooth functioning of the stable coalitions, both in the centre and the provinces, after the passage of the reforms package in the assembly.

Floor brokers said the current recovery process is expected to continue in the coming sessions also as the current lower levels reached by most of the leading shares are expected to attract fresh buying, both for quick capital gains and long-term investment.

Leading gainers were led by AKD Capital and Unilever Pakistan, up by Rs56.27 and Rs28.99, followed by MCB Bank, Adamjee Insurance, Sapphire Textiles, Attock Refinery, PSO, Pakistan Refinery, Ferozsons Lab, Ghani Glass and JS & Co, which posted gains, ranging from Rs5 to Rs22.01.

EFU General and EFU Life were leading among the losers, off Rs14.13 and Rs13.20, respectively.

Other prominent losers included Habib Bank, Pakistan Resource Co, Fazal Textiles, Shell Pakistan, Indus Motors, Sanofi-Aventis, Colgate Pakistan, Mitchell’s Farms, and Attock Petroleum, off by Rs5.40 to Rs10.90.

Trading volume rose further to 176m shares from the previous 168m shares as gainers held a comfortable lead over losers at 185 to 117,with 33 shares holding on to the last levels.

The most active list was topped by Pakistan Petroleum, sharply higher by Rs9.51 at Rs270.50 on 14m shares, followed by OGDC, higher by Rs3.25 at Rs132.25 on 12m shares, Arif Habib Securities, off Rs1.50 at Rs185 on 10m shares, Bank Alfalah, lower 40 paisa at Rs53.80 on 7m shares, Attock Refinery, higher by Rs6 at Rs260 on 6m shares, Nishat Mills, up 82 paisa at Rs108.62 on 5m shares and Engro Chemical, off Rs3.35 at Rs310.95 on 6m shares.

Other actives included JS Investment, up 26 paisa at Rs100.25 on 8m shares, D G Khan Cement, lower by Rs1.05 at Rs88.25 on 7m shares, and Pervez Securities, easy five paisa at Rs75.45 on 6m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: After having passed through a massive downward correction for the last couple of sessions, MCB Bank came in for active speculative support and rose by Rs4 at Rs357 on 6m shares, JS & Co, sharply higher by Rs22.38 at Rs570 on 5m shares, and Engro Chemical, off Rs3.10 at Rs312 on 4m shares.

Pakistan Petroleum followed them, sharply higher by Rs8.52 at Rs271.02 on 4m shares and National Bank, lower by 85 paisa at Rs202.65 also on 4m shares.

DEFAULTER COs: Trading activity on this counter remained slow as investors have shifted to the ready section followed by return of the bulls. Norrie Textiles again led the list of actives, up eight paisa at Rs2.20 on 1.259m shares followed by Japan Power, easy by eight paisa at Rs7.62 on 0.271m shares and Unity Modaraba, fractionally lower by 0.01 paisa at Rs1.35 on 0.210m shares.