KARACHI: Stocks galloped ahead on Friday with the KSE-100 index recording a gain of 269.79 points (0.77 per cent) to close at a new peak of 35,456.35.

Volume declined to 355 million shares valued at Rs16.3 billion from 405m shares of Rs16.1bn a day earlier.

The rally was led by the mutual funds which bought stocks worth $11.80m.

Foreign investors made net purchases of $2.03m, with inflows of $1.9m in fertiliser and $1m in banking sectors.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp commented that the stocks closed bullish on improved economic outlook.

IMF report indicating macroeconomic stability, record low Consumer Price Index data for June 2015, renewed foreign interest in blue-chip scrips and falling borrowing cost played a catalyst role in the speculation ahead of year-end results.

Over the week, stocks recorded stellar gains of 1,571 points (4.64pc).

Dealers at Topline Securities stated that the investors seemed optimistic on the June quarter results of leading companies.

Major gain was seen in media 10.5pc, cement 7.8pc, pharmaceuticals 6.9pc, telecom 5.8pc and banks 5.1pc.

Ahmed Saeed Khan of JS Global said that the cement sector remained at the centre of investors’ attention. Top gainers were DGKC, LCPL, PIOC and LUCK closing 2.4pc, 1.1pc, 2pc and 3.3pc higher, respectively.

Brokerage KASB Securi­ties stated that the locals drove the entire market momentum during the week, with foreigners liquidating $3.6m in first four sessions against an outflow of $16.1m last week, down by 78pc.

Average daily turnover was flat at 356m shares week-on-week, while average daily value rose by 56pc to $130m, representing reinvigorated interest in blue-chip scrips.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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