KARACHI – Investors became invigorated after the release of a US citizen, an issue which had become a major bone of contention between Pakistan and the US. After a week long bearish spell at the local bourse, aggressive buying by local institutions at lower levels was witnessed which helped maintain the positive trend throughout the day. The KSE-100 index managed to close up 64 points at 11,858 with 117 million shares traded today, up 8.4 percent. Locals were buyers in index heavy weights, while FII’s were rumored sellers in energy and fertilizer stocks. Wary investors fearing a knock-on effect from the crisis in Japan chose to remain selective. As the government issued notification withdrawing an exemption of sales tax on fertiliser backed by resilient demand supported the recovery at the bourse. The introduction of leverage of investor has failed to invigorate participation as merely 117 million shares were traded during the day.
Market continues to encircle around 12,000 amidst uncertainty over an array of economic issues and subsequent implications on corporate profits.
The KSE-100 index closed at 11,858.27 with a gain of 63.70 points, while total volume stood at 73,511,429 along with the total value of 5,695,421,342. The KSE 30 index closed at 11,514.87 levels with the gain of 71.90 points and the All Share index gained 49.62 points to close at 8288.47 levels. A total of 150 scrips advanced and 97 declined out of a total of 346 scrips traded, while 99 scrips remain unchanged. KSE Market Capitalization stood at Rs. 3,175.97 billion, that is $37.18 billion and KSE Future Volume stood at 6.75 million shares.
KSE Future Value stood at Rs 1,245.38 million and KSE Future Spread was 9.30 percent. Top gainers in today’s session were Pakistan Telephone Cables, Pace, Worldcall Telecom, Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited, Habib Bank, Thal Limited, and EFU Life Assurance Limited. While top losers include Pakistan Tobacco Company, Nestle Pakistan, Lafarge Pakistan Cement, Meezan Bank, Indus Motor Company, Pakistan Cables, and Packages Limited.
