KARACHI, Nov 10: Trading volume on the Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday further shrank as investors remained busy with the public issue of Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC) one of the massively capitalized share, which opened for public subscription on Nov 10. The KSE 100-share index rose by another 5.92 points at 3,769.07.
There may not be a bee-line of investors on the bank counters for this high-profile OGDC issue but a massive publicity drive and road shows held by the government has certainly made it more investor-friendly. A steady outflow of huge capital from the stock market in the form of unloading of long positions by the ‘big ones’ in some of the leading shares reflect that the general response is expected to be more than enthusiastic. A five-day investor ordeal could significantly add to the current depth of the market.
The extension of the weekend rally was also attributed to active follow-up support aided partly by some positive reports from the privatization front of some mega issues including Habib Bank and KESC.
The KSE 100-share index finished with an extended gain of 5.92 points at 3,769.07 as compared to 3,763.15 at the last weekend as leading base shares ended further higher.
Reports that the Privatization Commission met on Monday (Nov 10) to have an overview of the latest progress on the sell-off of the KESC, for which five buyers have already submitted their expressions of interest and prospective investors having interest to acquire its controlling shares also aided the underlying sentiment.
Trading volume, therefore, further shrank to 88m shares as a sizeable section of general investors and financial institutions remained busy in filling applications for the shares of Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC).
Public subscription of OGDC, one of the biggest share offering in the history of the KSE opened on Monday (Nov 10) and will remain open for five days till Nov 14, during which 215m shares including green shoe option of 2.5 per cent will be offered to the prospective investors.
The OGDC’s share is currently being traded around Rs36.50, which last week touched the peak level of Rs44 against the face value of Rs32 at which rate its share is offered to the public without any premium.
Analysts said investors both retailers and financial institutions have liquidated long positions on other counters to buy OGDC shares, which is being considered as a high-profile issue owing to its massive capital base and higher earnings based on new oil and gas finds.
“In normal market conditions, its share could assume the role of a trend setter in the coming weeks and may take away in part a leading role being played by massively capitalized issues, notably PTCL and Hub-Power,” they said.
Weakness of the textile sector owing to higher lint prices and fears of some problems on the export front and renewed selling in the leading energy shares limited the range of gains, dealers said.
Most of leading shares, notably PSO, ICI Pakistan, Pakistan Oilfields and some others suffered modest pruning, while Engro Chemical, Hub-Power, PTCL, Bosicor and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer managed to finish with modest gains.
Leading gainers were led by Unilever Pakistan, up Rs29 followed by Millat Tractors, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Pakistan Refinery, despite higher furnace oil inventory, Attock Refinery, Al-Abbas Sugar, Jahangir Siddiqui Bank and New Jubilee Insurance, which posted gains ranging from Rs2 to Rs5.
Losers were led by Burewala Textiles, Dawood Cotton, Mehmood Textiles, Ahmed Hassan Textiles, Shell Pakistan, Pakistan Cables, Dawood Hercules, Ferozsons Lab, Pakistan Paper Products, Pakistan Services and Javed Omer, which suffered fall ranging from Rs2 to Rs6.35.
Trading volume fell further to 88m shares from the previous 98m shares but gainers maintained a modest lead over the losers at 121 to 116 with 31 shares holding on to the last levels.
DG Khan Cement topped the list of most actives, lower 35 paisa at Rs38.05 on 16m shares followed by PSO, off Rs1.10 at Rs244.90 on 10m shares, PTCL, up 25 paisa at Rs32.15 on 8m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, unchanged at Rs17.70 on 6m shares and TRG Pakistan, higher by 90 paisa at Rs16.10 on 5m shares.
Other actives were led by Hub-Power, unchanged on 5m shares followed by MCB, higher by Rs1.50 also on 5m shares, PTCL, higher by 45 paisa on 4m shares and National Bank, firm by 10 paisa on 3m shares.
FORWARD SECTION: PSO came in for active selling at the higher level and fell by Rs1.50 at Rs245 on 8m shares followed by PTCL, up 20 paisa at Rs32.10 on 3m shares, Hub-Power, unchanged at Rs32.20 also on 3m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, easy five paisa at Rs17.70 on 2m shares and MCB, higher by Rs1.65 at Rs43.45 on 0.536m shares.
DEFAULTING COs: Trading on this counter remained dull as investors were not inclined to make fresh larger commitments. Price changes were mostly fractional amid slow ready business. There was no big deal for the fourth sessions in a row.