KARACHI, March 12: After early weakness on profit-taking, stocks on Tuesday resumed their upward drive on active follow-up support at the lower levels and generally finished with an extended gain.

The 100-share index posted a fresh rise of 15.16 points at 1,887.87 as compared to 1,872.71 a day earlier, reflecting the strength of leading base shares including PTCL.

But the major thrust of speculative buying remained confined to PSO, which rose by Rs4.45 at Rs164.20 on over 5m shares, the net rise being equivalent to more than two emergency clearing above the ceiling rate of Rs1.50.

Both PSO and Hub-Power now being quoted spot also attracted strong support under the lead of the latter, which posted a gain of 25 paisa at Rs26.30 on 8.277m shares, reflecting that investor interest is progressively shifting to the forward counter.

“I think the index is expected to celebrate the President’s Japan visit after breaching through the psychological barrier of 1,900 points”, a leading stock analyst at the Moosani Securities predicts “all and sundry is preparing himself to be ready to reap a rich harvest of the positive outcome of the visit”.

The President’s visit to Japan along with a strong economic team is expected to line up fresh investment from that country in the sectors hereto not fully exploited.

But stock analysts at Aziz Fidahusein & Co believe a correction is now overdue and it could be good for the health of the market itself being in a highly oversold market.

“The index level of 1,900 points is only short of 12 points and the gap could be bridged just in one go”, they say “heavy buying in PTCL alone could do the needful”, they added.

The important question is, however, whether or not it has the will to rise above the 2,000 point level, says an leading broker adding “it has the potential to rise above this level as the developing financial scenario indicates”.

Plus signs again dominated the list, major gainers among the 149 advancing shares being PSO, Pakistan Oilfields and Wyeth Pakistan, which rose by Rs4.45 to Rs15 followed by Reckit Benckise and Pakistan Refinery, which soared by Rs2.25 to Rs2.90.

Other prominent gainers were led by Javed Omer, National Refinery, Pakistan Refinery, Shell Pakistan, Atlas Honda, BOC Pakistan, Reckit and Benckise and Bata Pakistan, which rose by Rs2 to Rs2.90.

Leading losers were led by Bestway Cement, Mitchell’s Fruits, Sana Industries and Nestle MilkPak, falling by Rs1.45 to Rs6.05, the largest decline of Rs20 being in Parke-Davis for no apparent bearish news followed by Century Insurance, Bestway Cement and Tri-Pak Films.

Trading volume expanded to 196m shares from the previous 173m shares as advancing shares held a strong lead over the losers at 149 to 77, out of 283 actives.

PTCL again led the list of most actives, unchanged at Rs20.45 on 44m shares followed by FFC-Jordan Fertiliser, up 30 paisa at Rs7 on 29m shares, Pakistan PTA, higher by 80 paisa at Rs6.75 on 20m shares, National Bank, higher Rs1.65 at Rs23.90 on 18m shares and Sui Northern Gas, lower 15 paisa at Rs15.60 on 13m shares.

Other actives were led by ICI Pakistan, firm by 25 paisa on 9m shares, MCB, up 70 paisa at Rs28.55 also on 9m shares, Dewan Salman, easy five paisa on 8m shares, KESC, steady by 15 paisa on 7m shares and Bank of Punjab, higher 75 paisa on 5m shares.

FUTURE CONTRACTS: Active trading was witnessed on the forward counter where apart from PTCL, Hub-Power and PSO, Fauji Fertilizer and FFC-Jordan also attracted good support after the news that the former’s Rs8bn bid for the purchase of Saudi Pak Fertilizer has been accepted by the Privatization Commission. The former rose by 65 paisa at Rs50.05, while the latter at Rs7.10 on 1.197m and 1.509m shares respectively. Others were also actively traded.