KARACHI, Oct 9: The KSE 100-share index on Wednesday briefly breached through the psychological barrier of 2,100 points as bulls were not inclined to take even a technical breather ahead of the national elections and political uncertainties associated with it.
As was widely speculated the rubicon was finally crossed during the mid-session followed by strong institutional and external buying in most of the pivotals aided largely by their still attractively lower levels.
At one stage it was quoted at its three-year peak level of 2,100.50 points but stray selling at the fag-end of the session allowed it to finish with a clipped gain of 31.97 points at 2,098.96.
The market capitalization soared to over Rs480 billion, up Rs7 billion from the previous close as all the leading base shares were traded higher under the lead of PTCL, Hub-Power and PSO.
The question now being debated is that whether or not it could sustain this coveted level after the elections. Some say it could attain new peak of 2,300 points in the post-election sessions but some others claim a strong technical correction as the rise is speculative rather than real.
“During the last couple of sessions black money has made deeper inroads in the share business causing the current price flare-up”, one broker claims “if it stays in after being white, the current run-up could be sustained and if it opts otherwise there could be a big correction”.
But the general perception is that the index stands an even chance as much will depend on the behaviour of the institutional traders after the elections.
However, a section of leading stock analysts says the current run-up could be deceptive as it is not backed by local basic positive fundamentals and may leave behind a long list of casualties after the speculative support withdrew.
One thing is clear that pre-holiday session generally attract selling and the fact that bulls were not inclined to leave the arena tell a different story.
All the sectors participated in the run-up, although bulk of the support remained confined to energy, cement, chemical, fertilizer and most of the blue chips on other counters.
Big gainers were led by General Tyre, Abbott Lab, Unilever Pakistan, Siemens Pakistan, Fazal Textiles, Lakson Tobacco and Pak Reinsurance Company, which posted gains ranging from Rs4 on the lower side and Rs45.75 on the higher, Nestle MilkPak and Wyeth Pakistan being on top of them, up by Rs14 and Rs19 against their face values of Rs10.
Losers were led by Pakistan House International, Artistic Denim, Shafiq Textiles and Attock Refinery, off Rs1.50 to Rs2.90, while other suffered fractional decline.
Trading volume rose further to 178m shares from the previous 160m shares as gainers maintained a strong lead over the losers at 210 to 91, with 48 shares holding on to the last levels.
Hub-Power topped the list of actives, up 15 paisa at Rs24.70 on 24m shares followed by PTCL, higher by 20 paisa at Rs20.25 also on 24m shares, Engro Chemical, up Rs1.80 at Rs67.20 on 21m shares, ICI Pakistan, firm by one rupee at Rs42.65 on 12m shares and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, steady by 10 paisa at Rs6.85 on 11m shares.
Other actives were led by PSO, higher by 50 paisa on 9m shares, KESC, up also by the same amount on 9m shares, Pak PTA, higher by 55 paisa on 8.550m shares, MCB, firm by 20 paisa on 5m shares and Fauji Fertilizer, higher by 55 paisa on 4.882m shares.
CLEARED LIST: Speculative issues on the forward counter also came in for active support and finished with fresh gains under the lead of PSO, up 20 paisa at Rs161.20 on 5m shares.
Other actives were led by Hub-Power, firm by 10 paisa at Rs24.75 on 2.623m shares and PTCL, higher by 20 paisa at Rs20.30 on 2,215m shares.
Engro Chemical and ICI Pakistan were traded higher by 70 paisa and one rupee at Rs67.35 and Rs42.80 on 1.570m and 0.711m shares respectively.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Active trading was again witnessed on this counter as investors played on both sides the fence indulging in alternate bouts of buying and selling.
Allied Motors came in renewed strong support and rose by one rupee at Rs11 on 31,500 shares, followed by Suzuki Motorcycle, easy 45 paisa at Rs5.40 on 40,500 shares and Quice Foods, lower five paisa at Rs1.25 on 10,000 shares. Others were also actively traded.
DIVIDEND: Mian Industries, right shares at the rate of 10 per cent, Faysal Bank, Khyber Tobacco, Diamond Industries and Shafi Chemicals, all nil for the year ended June 30, 2002.
BOARD MEETINGS: First Imroz Modaraba, on Oct 14, Pakistan Tobacco on Oct 16 and Fayzan Modaraba on Oct 17.