KARACHI
The market was forecast to perform poorly but the price hike of OGDC shares in the first half hour of the day boosted morale on the ground allowing the market to not only maintain its own, but move ahead, to 10,758 points. OGDC rose to a four year high level after it posted an increase in revenue of 39% in the first quarter.
Index heavy weight OGDC contributed heavily towards the overall gain in the index after announcement of its strong showing. The benchmark KSE 100 moved in a range of 101 points posting a low and high of 10,657 points and 10,758 points respectively. At the end of the day, volumes of around 142mn shares compared to 151mn shares traded yesterday.
At the end of the trading, NRL gave a positive EPS of 16.87 which brought its price to 233.50. The release of third quarter results of the previous financial year and the first quarter of FY11 results is now in full swing and generally been a catalyst for the heavy activity within the market. HBL results were in tandem with consumer expectations.
Activity in the stock market has picked up, with punters, day traders, foreign investors and fund managers actively participated in the stock market. Rumors related to the greatly anticipated announcement of ‘leveraged products’ is regarded as one of the reasons behind the elevated levels of trading on the stock market.
Newly established power companies are especially prominent and are angling at active membership of the top tier of the bourse. Once again, NPL and NCPL left their mark on the market as volume leaders across the board with NPL gaining Rs 1 per share to close positively. Market experts anticipate that the result season, with its strong corporate results, may to drive the stock market forward.
