KARACHI, Dec 24: Stocks ended higher on Monday led by middle-tier shares, but in dull trade as investors were on the sidelines ahead of a holiday on Tuesday and also due to the year-end, dealers said.

The KSE 100-share index ended 0.16 per cent, or 26.60 points, higher to 16,891.94 points. The index traded in a narrow range of 16,815.64 points to 16,904.52 points.

“Due to year end effect all major institutions preferred to remain on the sidelines. This is also depicted by low volumes of trading value of only Rs2.8bn. TRG remained the volume leader with more than 33m shares exchanged hands,” said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities Ltd.

Turnover decreased to 131.99 million shares compared with 182m shares on Friday. Trading value fell by Rs500m to Rs2.79 billion from Rs3.3bn whereas market capitalisation rose marginally to Rs4.24 trillion from Rs4.23 trillion.

“The stock market rose under the lead of telecom stocks amid speculations ahead of auction of 3G licences and TRG announcement of subsidiary listing on London Stock Exchange,” said Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Ltd.

TRG was the volume leader and accounted for one fourth of the total volume for Monday.

TRG Pakistan Limited, the first listed IT-enabled services company in Pakistan, last week expressed intention to get its subsidiary called DG Services listed at AIM Market of London Stock Exchange, according to a statement by the company to the Karachi Stock Exchange.

“The board of directors of TRG Pakistan Ltd, in their meeting held on December 19, 2012, decided to evaluate admission to London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market by way of placing, for one of its subsidiaries DG Services,” said Syed Muhammad Talib Raza, secretary of TRG Pakistan.

The market was also supported by buying in the energy sector especially Oil and Gas Development Co Ltd and Pakistan Oilfields. OGDCL closed Rs1.80 higher at Rs191.08 and POL rose Rs4.42 to end at Rs435.36.

Foreign investors cautiously bought shares worth a net $225.534 on Monday, compared with selling a net of $1.48m the previous trading session. However for the month, they remain net sellers of $2.9m.

Banks were the major sellers in the market as they sold equities worth $2.9m.

The biggest gainer was Unilever Pakistan which ended Rs50 higher at Rs10,150, followed by Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan which closed Rs15 higher at Rs390. Unilever Food witnessed the biggest loss as it shed Rs100 to Rs4,200, followed by Bata Pakistan, which fell Rs39 to close at Rs1,360.

The KSE-30 index ended 0.28pc, or 38.14 points, higher at 13,721.36.

Out of the 372 companies traded, the value of 120 increased, 191 decreased while 31 remained unchanged. Even though the share value of more companies declined than increased, it was the buying in heavyweights that resulted in a positive closing for the market.

The second and third tier companies dominated the 10 most active traded stocks, with the consistent cement sector featuring on the list: TRG Pakistan rose 41 paisa to Rs6.18 on turnover of 33.4m shares, Byco Petroleum gained 26 paisa to Rs12.35 on 9.14m shares, and Lotte PakPTA ended 12 paisa to Rs7.61 on 8.78m shares.

Dewan Salman closed 10 paisa higher at Rs2.51 on 6.52m shares, Engro Foods closed at its upper circuit, gaining Rs4.32 to Rs96.21 on 5.51m shares and Pak Elektron Ltd rose 44 paisa to Rs10.17 on 4.25m shares.

But the cement sector witnessed some profit booking as Dewan cement fell 14 paisa to Rs5.06 on 3.74m shares, Fauji Cement ended flat at Rs6.40, unchanged from Friday’s close on nearly 3m shares and Maple Leaf Cement closed 10 paisa lower at Rs14.79 on 2.55m shares.

Jahangir Siddiqui Co Ltd shed 31 paisa to end at Rs16.34 on 2.34m shares.