As the political standoff between the ruling regime and the armed forces continued to tone down its aggressive rhetoric, investors returned to the market foray to scoop up their favourite under valued scripts. Despite the subdued volumes of 26m shares, it was a welcoming sign to see the oil industry titan OGDC recover from its recent slump and contribute 68 points to the index’s overall 98 point gain. The volume leader board was dominated by the fertiliser sector as FFBL, FATIMA and FFC occupied the top three spots and accounted for 35 per cent of the daily traded volume. News of a reduction in GST rate for tractors was a positive trigger for MTL and AGTL as both scripts recorded strong gains for the day. With the onset of the results season and easing of political tension, the market is showing signs of improvement in investor sentiment, but the glory days are still a far cry at this stage, said Ali Hussain at HMFS.
KSE-100 index started the week on a positive note with index gaining 0.9 per cent and volumes of 27m shares. MTL opened the day on its upper circuit as government decided to cut the GST on tractors from 16 per cent to 5 per cent. There was continued interest seen in FFC as expectations of high cash payout and bonus continued with full year result. OGDC was the best performer of the day as investors took the opportunity to accumulate on lower levels as rumors of foreign selling in the script subdued.
On the political front, there seems to be an outside chance of prime minister’s disqualification as contempt notice was issued by the Supreme Court. This can lead to further volatility in the coming week as the premier is supposed to appear in court on the 19th of January. KSE 30 index closed at 10272.98 levels with the gain of 96.74 points, while All Share Index closed at 7709.32 levels after gaining 64.21 points. A total of 116 scrips advanced, 86 declined and 104 remain unchanged out of total 306 scrips traded.
