KARACHI, March 28: Stock prices rose further across the board on Friday as investors continued to inflate their portfolios on selected counters supported apparently by some local positive factors, notably an attractive bait of quick capital gains.
There was, however, no matching selling from the bears as sharing the bull optimism of a sustained run-up in the coming sessions they also held on to their unsold positions.
The KSE 100-share index finished the weekend session at 2,744.18 as compared to 2,719.19 a day earlier, signalling that its next chart point could be 2,800 if all goes well with bull future perceptions. The net rise over the day was 24.99 points
“Investors have learnt to respond to local bullish factors discounting an immediate negative impact of Iraq war on the economy”, one broker claims “an attractive bait of capital gains in the backdrop of falling interest rates is providing the real boost to the current run-up”.
But many still are not inclined to share the prevailing optimism about the outcome of war but all agree its negative impact will be tremendous on the economy and post-war figures will tell how the foreign trade has received a big jolt.
“The Iraq war may be extended beyond anybody’s guess but as the fight is between the two unequals and the might may eventually win”, analysts said adding “but it is unclear what benefit the bulls will draw after the rout of the Muslim armies”.
The firm finish at the weekend session always signals the extension of the bull-run and that is perhaps why financial institutions and institutional traders were not inclined to lower their guards.
There is no denying the fact that corporate announcements coming even for the neglected sectors such as textile and insurance are certainly beyond the market expectations but the centre of activity are the other sectors notably a dozen volume leaders.
The index may be inching up to attain its pre-reaction levels but the falling volumes and range of stocks, which is the centre of activity did not match the persistent increase in it.
Plus signs again dominated the list, major gainers among them being BOC Pakistan, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Bhanero Textiles, Dawood Hercules and Wyeth Pakistan, which posted gains ranging from Rs3.50 to Rs22.
Other good gainers were led by Habib Insurance, Dawood Cotton, PSO, Atlas Honda, Glaxo-Wellcome, Sapphire Fibre and Dreamworld, up by Rs1.90 to Rs2.90.
Losers were led by IGI Insurance, Indus Motors, Gadoon Textiles, Crescent Steel, Ghandhara Diesel, Abbott Lab, Nestle MilkPak and Attock Refinery, off one rupee to Rs2.
The turnover figure fell to 156m shares from the previous 181m shares but gainers maintained a strong lead over the losers at 203 to 88, with 39 shares holding on to the last levels.
The most active list was topped by PTCL, up by 15 paisa at Rs24.50 on 42m shares followed by PSO, higher by Rs1.95 at Rs207.35 on 19m shares, Sui Northern Gas, lower 12 paisa at Rs24.65 on 11m shares, PIA (A), up 75 paisa at Rs10.05 on 11m shares and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, unchanged at Rs11.45 on 7m share.
Other actives were led by MCB, higher by 50 paisa on 7m shares, Hub-Power, firm 10 paisa at Rs38.05 on 5m shares, National Bank, unchanged also on 5m shares, Pak PTA, steady 10 paisa on 5m shares and Southern Electric, higher by Rs1.20 on 4m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: PTCL also came in for active short-covering on the forward counter and showed another odd price increase, up by 13 paisa at Rs24.52 on 5m shares followed by PSO, higher by Rs1.70 at Rs207.50 on 3m shares. Its April settlement also rose by Rs1.85.
The notable feature was that the matured March settlements were rung off the board and the April contracts assumed the role of ruling contracts.
Other speculative shares including Sui Northern Gas, Pak PTA, and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer were traded modestly but finished mixed amid light business.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Fairly active trading was witnessed on this counter as a section of investors covered position in some of them at the lower levels. Most active among them was Bela Automotive, up by 85 paisa at Rs2.50 on 34,000 shares.
S.S.Oils followed it, sharply higher by Rs1.45 at Rs4.50 on 32,000 shares and Quice Foods, firm 15 paisa at Rs1.30 on 27,500 shares. Others were also actively traded.