The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) exhibited bullish activity in the earnings announcement session on Friday on the back of, what analysts said, institutional and foreign interest in selected blue chip scrips.
The benchmark 100-share index closed 30.78 points higher, at 11,954.37, on the last trading day of the week against 11,923.59 points in the previous day.
“Bullish activity was witnessed in the earnings announcement session on institutional and foreign interest in the selected blue chip scrips,” said Arif Habib Investments Director Ahsan Mehanti.
The day saw the index cross the rare 12,000 mark to stand at 12,024.72 points after starting its flight from Thursday’s 11,923.59 points, also the intraday low.
Foreign interest for the last couple of days has been a major stimulus for the often thin volumes that at the ready-counter were calculated at 66.957 million shares on the day against the previous 77.117 million.
Market capitalisation underwent slight improvement to close at Rs 3.179 trillion compared to Rs 3.172 trillion a day earlier.
Lotte Pak PTA, with eight million shares, was the day’s volume leader. The opening and closing rates for the Lotte’s were recorded, respectively, at Rs 15.63 and Rs 15.67. The future market remained sluggish to close at 2.59 million shares against 4.0 million shares traded on Thursday.
Citing reasons for the day’s bullish activity, Mehanti said higher global commodity prices, US brent crude over $124, rising foreign exchange reserves at $17.38 billion and favourable earning announcements had played a catalyst role in positive activity at the KSE.
This, he said, was despite concerns for energy shortages in the country and security situation in the metropolis. Another stocks observer, Husnain Asghar Ali of Aziz Fida Husien and Company, said a “bullish fervor” allowed the benchmark to flirt with the 12,000 figure. “Follow-up support in frontline main board stocks kept the bulls going, wherein on one end buyers accumulated high dividend yielding stocks,” he viewed.
The analysts said that strength in various stocks, termed over-valued, witnessed off-loading, however placement of proceeds in comparatively safer stocks disallowed negativity to overpower short-term profit taking. Besides, he said, selling in high priced stocks, technical adjustment and week-end pressure kept the benchmark under pressure.
The green numbers were, however, sustained, while local stakeholders were now awaiting materialisation of aggressive plans unveiled for the restructuring of exploration and various petroleum and energy companies from the government. “Earnings and budget leaks would inspire the market movement, availability of ready board leverage still carries chances of extension of bull run incase of positive updates mainly on CGT’’s implementation mode,” the analyst said.