The chart above displays the 30-days movements of the KSE-100 Index.

KARACHI: The share market on Tuesday remained in a bullish frame of mind as investors continued to build-up long positions on selective counters aided by strong rumours about the official review of the capital gains tax to boost stock trading.

The KSE 100-share index added another 157 points or 1.40 per cent to overnight total at 11,319.15.

The government may have some rethinking on the prevailing market conditions amid sagging daily volumes and may have decided to boost it after giving some relief in the form of tax reform to protect the interest of small investors and arrest creeping erosion in the share values.

The bench mark soared by another 156.76 points at 11,319.15 points as compared to previous 11,162.39, as leading base shares tended further higher.

“The rumour-based strong buying may have some relevance to the ground situation, including the terrible plight of the market in terms of low daily volumes,” a leading stock analyst Faisal Abbas said and added: “But investors are not that fool as they have their own future market perceptions.”

But what seems to have given credence to the current market run-up was said to be the strong institutional presence though on selective counters and general investors hastened not to miss the rising market and rode the bandwagon, he said.

Both the National Bank and Engro Corporation were again subjected to upper locks for the second session in a row as investors were not inclined to miss an attractive bait of capital gains at the current rates, analyst Ahsan Mehanti said.

“But the important thing is that rising daily volume reflects the investor confidence in the rescue operation launched by the financial institutions amid hopes that current lower levels pose no immediate threat of reversal,” he added.

Leading gainers, included Nestle Pakistan and Unilever Pakistan, up Rs47.35 and 37.60, while losers were led by Rafhan Maize and Siemens Pakistan, off Rs66.47 and Rs20, respectively.

Advancing shares again held a strong lead over the losing ones at 155 to 91 with 119 shares holding on to the previous levels.

Traded volume rose further to 87.041m shares from the previous 74m shares amid active short-covering on almost all the counters.

The active list was again led by the National Bank, up Rs1.93 at Rs40.69 on 10m shares followed by Nishat Power, easy 61 paisa at 14.11 on 9m shares, Bank of Punjab, firm by 68 paisa at Rs6.18 on 8m shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, steady by 74 paisa at 52.04 on 5m shares, Lotte Pakistan, easy five paisa at Rs11.72 on 4m shares, Azgard Nine, up 28 paisa at 5.10 on 4m shares, and Nishat Mills, higher by Rs2.20 on reports of higher dividend at Rs45.37 on 4m shares.

They were followed by Engro Corporation, higher by Rs6.14 at Rs132.09 on 4m shares, Fatima Fertiliser, up 47 paisa at 17.16 also on 4m shares and D. G. Khan Cement, higher by 47 paisa at 20.58 on 4m shares.

FUTURE CONTRACTS:

National Bank again led the list of actives on this counter, higher by Rs1.95 at 41.05 on 2.669m shares followed by Engro Corporation, higher by Rs6.19 at Rs131.09 on 1.152m shares and Nishat Mills, up Rs2.23 at 46.84 on 0.814m shares.

They were followed by Pakistan Oilfields, sharply higher by Rs9.01 at Rs365.78 on 0.749m shares and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Rs1.01 at Rs50.43 on 0.650m shares.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES:

Japan Power came in for active selling and led the list of actives, off four paisa at Rs1 on 0.303m shares followed by Ravi Textiles, steady by one paisa at 0.87 on 47,232 shares and Invest Bank, lower by three paisa at 0.27 on 45,494 shares.