Stocks manage to sustain gains amid profit-selling

KARACHI: The KSE 100-share index on Thursday extended its creeping rally as leading base shares came in for active renewed support and finished with fresh gains but the activity was relatively slow.

The notable feature was that after having breached through the barrier of 7,700 at 7,785.38, it sustained it despite a lot of profit-selling at the peak level and ended around 7,715.42 points, up 29.27 points.

The KSE 30-share index followed it and ended with a fresh rise of 30.99 points at 8,289.83, well below the session’s high of 8,373 points.

Bulk of the activity remained confined to some of the pivotals having larger weightage in the index, under the lead of Pakistan Oilfields, Engro Chemical, Adamjee Insurance and some others, which sustained most of the initial gains, floor brokers said.

But the steep decline in the turnover figure below 200m shares indicated that investors are not inclined to go all out for the choice scrips, still available at a handsome discount despite fresh fall in the cutoff yield of the T-bills, which were quoted further lower by 155 and 71 basis points for both the maturities, they added.

‘After consensus list of 10 deliverable futures, all eyes are now seems to be focused on the new financing tool, widely rumoured margin financing,’ they said and added, ‘The last week of the current month could be very crucial for the future market outlook.’

As a result, both the financial institutions and the foreign investors are not inclined to go beyond the safe havens and play safe after having judiciously spread their stakes in more than one share.

A leading analyst said investors are awaiting an official word on the liquidity problem and the launch of the new financing tool and until it is resolved the performance of the market may remain highly erratic.

Leading gainers were led by Unilever Pakistan and Pakistan Oilfields, up by Rs62.40 and 7.68.

Prominent losers included Bata Pakistan and Fazal Textiles, off Rs18 and 16.75.
Trading volume fell below the 200m share mark at 194m as compared to 236m shares as losers outpaced gainers by a slight margin at 161 to 156, with 25 shares holding on to the last levels.

D. G. Khan Cement topped the list of actives, firm by 83 paisa at Rs34.90 on 14m shares followed by Nishat Mills, easy seven paisa at 41.14 on 13m shares, Azgard Nine, fractionally down by two paisa at 26.86 on 12m shares, Bank AlFalah, easy two paisa at 12.38 on 11m shares, United Bank, up Rs1.03 at 45.08 on 10m shares, Pakistan Oilfields, higher by Rs7.68 at 161.32 also on 10m shares, and Fauji Cement, firm by seven paisa at 7.98 on 9m shares.

Engro Chemical followed them, sharply higher by Rs3.98 at 147.07 on 8m shares, Adamjee Insurance, up Rs2.04 at 99.44 also on 8m shares and J. S. & Co, lower 38 paisa at 25.62 on 7m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Mixed trend was witnessed on this counter where leading oil shares managed to finish with good gains amid speculative trading followed by blue chips such as Engro Chemical and ICI Pakistan, while PSO and National Bank fell. No deal was reported in any of the actives.

DEFAULTER COS: Trading activity on this counter was confined to only eight shares as investors remained busy in the ready section indulging in alternate bouts of buying and selling.

However, Dominion Stock Fund came in for active support at the previous rate of Rs0.79 on 0.221m shares followed by Invest Mutual Fund, lower three paisa at 0.38 on 0.209m shares, Genertech and Accord Textiles, up five and 22 paisa at 0.75 and 0.40 on 18,500 and 10,000 shares, respectively. link....