Rise in remittances, reduction in trade deficit and an increase in exports did allow market men to make strong presentations in order to invite sideliners. The KSE-100 index gained 24.34 points and closed at 12,036.36 levels, while total volume and total value stood at 60,121,055 and 2,920,521,256 respectively. The KSE-30 index dwindled 8.68 points to close at 11655.03 levels, while the All Share index closed at 8,365.94 levels after a gain of 16.60 points. Out of 365 scrips, 121 advanced, 141 declined and 103 remained unchanged.
The positive run-up led by OGDC, various dividend-yielding stocks and low priced stocks added substantial turnover besides providing various trading opportunities to the market men. Snap rallies in banking and cement stocks on expectations of a likely increase in PSDP allocation did keep volatility and trading interest alive during the initial hours. Those rallies renewed selling in expensive stocks, including OGDC, thus forcing the index to shed excess weight, while the remaining gains became victim of the day-end squaring.
Some handful potential participants were quite cautious as they presumably understood the window dressing of economic numbers, done primarily to present a strong case for release of the long awaited IMF tranhce. Hasnain Asghar Ali at Aziz Fidahusein said that with the days numbered ahead of federal budget and the last monetary policy of the running fiscal; budget leaks will dominate proceedings. Meanwhile an update on CGT may, however, have a comparatively long lasting impact, as indeed the implantation mode of CGT has severely dented the turnover due to a massive reduction in the number of participants.
