KARACHI, July 6: The KSE 100-share index on Friday again crossed the barrier of 14,000 points but failed to sustain it and finished the weekend session with a fresh modest rise of 44 points on active follow-up support.
It hit its career-best level so far at 14,028.91 points as some of the leading base shares, notably OGDCL and Pakistan Petroleum again came in for strong foreign buying. The next week could be decisive for market’s future direction.
It, however, ended with a fresh rise of 43.89 points at 13,985.89 as compared to 13,942 a day earlier as leading base shares maintained their upward drive.
Although weekend profit-selling clipped a good part of the initial gains but the overall performance of the broader market was credibly well and reflected that the ongoing Lal Masjid operation did not deter investors to make fresh covering purchases, analysts observed.
Foreign investors were active participants and continued to lend support to the oil and gas and banking shares amid market talk of some fresh acquisitions of the local banks by some of the MNCs, they said.
However, it was interesting to note that about a dozen second-liners had recently assumed the role of market trend-setters as a good part of buying interest was shifted to them.
“The current higher daily volumes indicate both genuine investment and speculative buying as many are not inclined to miss an attractive bait of capital gains,” said a leading analyst Faisal A. Abbas, adding “persistent increase in some of the cement and telecom shares amid larger turnover shows a major shift in the buying strategy”.
Analyst Ashraf Zakaria said the market could take a technical breather by way of correction as it did in the afternoon session but it would add to its inherent strength rather than acting as depressant.
Leading gainers were led by Siemens Pakistan, Unilever Pakistan, JS & Co, Shell Pakistan, Nestle Pakistan, which posted fresh gains ranging from Rs17.35 to Rs55.
Other notable gainers included Arif Habib Ltd, Javed Omer, Grays of Cambridge, Shezan International, Mari Gas, BOC Pakistan, National Refinery and HinoPak, which rose by Rs8.75 to Rs14.
Losers were led by Atlas Insurance, Central Insurance, United Bank, Gatron Industries, Thal Jute, Atlas Battery, Excide Pakistan, Sanofi-Aventis, Murree Brewery, Pakistan Services and Bata Pakistan, off by Rs4 to Rs14.
Trading volume further rose to 413m shares from the previous 383m shares as gainers held a strong lead over the losers at 229 to 136, with 44 shares holding on to the last levels.
Among the actively traded shares, Fauji Cement was leading, up by 45 paisa at Rs22.15 on 38m shares, followed by TRG Pakistan, steady by 20 paisa at Rs17.45 on 37m shares, OGDC, higher by Re1 at Rs122 on 36m shares, SaudiPak Bank, up by Rs1.30 at Rs27.90 on 17m shares, Dewan Cement, up by Re1 at Rs18.70 also on 17m shares, Arif Habib Securities, higher by Rs6.50 at Rs133.85 on 14m shares and Telecard, lower 15 paisa at Rs14.35 on 12m shares.
They were followed by Pakistan Petroleum, higher by Rs2.40 at Rs273.60 on 9m shares, Bosicor Pakistan, lower 30 paisa at Rs20.05 on 13m shares and Maple Leaf Cement, up by 35 paisa at Rs25.35 on 10m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: OGDC topped the list of actives on this counter and was marked up by 95 paisa at Rs122.85 on 7m shares followed by Lucky Cement, lower by 20 paisa at Rs135.10 on 6m shares and Telecard, easy by 20 paisa at Rs14.45 on 5m shares.
Maple Leaf Cement followed them, up by 35 paisa at Rs25.55 on 5m shares and Pioneer Cement, higher by Rs2.20 at Rs47.90 on 4m shares.
DEFAULTER COS: Japan Power again came in for strong support on market talk of management change and was marked up by Re1 at Rs9.75 on 7.416m shares followed by Zeal Pak Cement, higher by Re1 at Rs6.60 on 4.909m shares and Nimir Chemicals, lower by 15 paisa at Rs5.50 on 2.523m shares.Quice Foods was also actively traded, up by 45 paisa at Rs5.25 on 1.315m shares followed by Asset Bank, up by 60 paisa at Rs5.70 on 0.401m shares and Norrie Textiles, steady by five paisa at Rs2.65 on 0.223m shares. Some others were also came in for modest support and rose modestly.