KARACHI, Aug 30: The recovery tempo on the share market on Thursday was further accelerated aided by active follow-up support triggered partly by revival of foreign buying in leading banks and partly to positive news from the political front, notably the talk of Musharraf-Benazir power sharing deal.
The KSE 100-share index rose by another 137.88 points at 12,365.94 points or 1.13 per cent at 12,365.94, recovering 411 points or 3.40 per cent during the last three sessions. The KSE 30-share index also recovered 280.52 points at 15,066.08 points.
“But it has still to go a long way to attain its lost glory and prestigious figure of well over 14,000 points,” analyst Ashraf Zakaria said adding: “If the much-talked about power sharing deal is inked between Musharraf and Benazir the market could receive a positive psychological boost.”
Higher dividend and bonus shares announced by some of the leading companies also evoked good interest on selected counters under the lead of Ferozsons Lab, which came out with cash payout of 65 per cent plus bonus shares of 20 per cent.
Another leading analyst Ahsan Mehanti fears that the political reconciliation should be in totality and not without Nawaz Sharif and if he is left out of the power elite tensions will be there.
However, strong presence of foreign support in some of the leading bank shares, notably MCB reflects that the “return of the prodigal son” is not without some insider leak about the future power set up.
“Falling volumes reflect that most of the leading investors still have some reservations about the technical turnaround as some of the political irritants are there enough to feed the prevailing uncertainty,” analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali said. End of the uncertainty will give the market needed boost, he added. During the last three sessions, MCB share has soared by Rs40 after successive upper locks and was last quoted at Rs307.40 on Wednesday from the early week low of Rs267.
Other bank shares, notably National Bank also maintained its upward drive on active support and so did leading cement and oil shares, notably Lucky Cement, D.G.Khan, OGDC and Pakistan Petroleum.
Among the top gainers, MCB and JS & Co were leading, up by Rs14.60 and 36.80, followed by Berger Paints, Colgate Pakistan, Ferozsons Lab after the announcement of 20 per cent bonus share in addition to a cash dividend already announced, Fazal Textiles, Arif Habib Ltd, Pakistan Engineering and Pakistan Oilfields, which were quoted higher by Rs7 to 11.
Losers were led by Lakson Tobacco and Rafhan Maize, off Rs18 and 102.50 after being quoted ex-dividend. Others which fell modestly included Shell Gas, Shell Pakistan, Pakistan Cables, Sanofi-Aventis, Exide Pakistan and AKD Capital, off by Rs4 to 8.55.Trading volume, however, failed to keep pace with the buying offers and fell to 193m shares from the previous 201m shares in the absence of leading sellers. Advancing shares held a strong lead over the losing ones at 195 to 114, with 40 shares holding on to the last levels.
The active list was topped by National Bank, up Rs2.80 at Rs236.40 on 17m shares followed by Lucky Cement, higher by Rs1.60 at Rs114.35 on 16m shares, Arif Habib Securities, firm by Rs3.25 at Rs123.40 on 10m shares, Bank AlFalah, steady by 30 paisa at Rs45.30 on 9m shares, MCB, sharply higher by Rs14.60 at Rs307.40 on 8m shares, OGDC, firm by 50 paisa at Rs107.90 on 7m shares, and Pakistan Petroleum, higher by Rs2 at Rs244.25 on 6m shares.
Adamjee Insurance, followed them, up by Rs3.50 on 5m shares, TRG Pakistan, steady 10 paisa on 10m shares and D.G.Khan Cement, up 80 paisa on 9m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: Lucky Cement led the list of actives on the cleared list and was marked up by Rs2 at Rs115.50 on 5m shares followed by MCB, higher by Rs14.48 at Rs304.23 on 4m shares and its August settlement, higher by Rs14.61 at Rs306.92 also on 4m shares.
Both the contracts of National Bank, were quoted higher by Rs4.25 and Rs4.20 at 238.25 and 236.70 for September and August, respectively.
DEFAULTER COS: Nimir Chemicals led the list of actives on this counter, unchanged at Rs3.55 on 0.623m shares followed by Zeal-Pak Cement, also unchanged at Rs5.50 on 0.301m shares and Quice Foods, up 55 paisa at Rs5.70 on 0.186m shares. Japan Power was marked down by five paisa at Rs8.75 on 0.141m shares.
DIVIDEND: Atlas Battery, cash 60 per cent plus bonus shares of 15 per cent, Shabbir Tiles, bonus shares, 20 per cent, Agriautos, cash final, 70 per cent, Pakistan Hotels, cash 30 per cent, and Al-Zamin Leasing Modaraba, cash 12.5 per cent.