KSE market capitalisation exceeds Rs2 trillion mark

KARACHI - The market capitalization of Karachi Stock Exchange once again surged beyond Rs2 trillion and amounted to Rs2.005 trillion as the KSE-100 index gained another 57 points on Wednesday. In foreign exchange, the market capitalization of KSE-100 index amounted to $25.37 billion.
The formation of a new committee to probe March 2005 stock market crash and speculations of failure of peace agreement in northern areas kept the KSE moving both ways.
However, before closing, the KSE-100 Index gained another 57 points on Wednesday and closed at 6,674.20 points.
The KSE 100 Index opened in the green zone with a gain of 72.47 points and at the end of the day closed at 6,674.20 points by gaining 57.20 points.
Blue chip counters at Benchmark-100 has been packed with value which are finding support as their evaluated price targets ascend due to an anticipatory lowering of interest rates, and all investors at appropriate levels are seeking out their preferred stocks.
Trading activity showed a decline as the ready market volume stands at 262.884mn shares as compared to last trading session's 300.537mn shares. Total trading value of the market amounted to Rs 10.956 billion on Wednesday as compared to the last session's Rs 7.680 on Tuesday. Out of total 378 active symbols at KSE, 228 declined, 138 gained value while the worth of the shares of 12 companies remained unchanged.
Buying activity at the market continued with the expectation of cut in discount rates within weeks. Banking sector once again showed significant turnover in terms of shares trading. OGDC was witnessed as the volume leader of the day with the trading of over 17 million shares on Wednesday. Among other well-traded shares were Bank Al-Falah with 16.904 million shares, DGKC 14.645 million shares, NIB Bank 14.586 million shares, Nishat Mills 12.308 million shares, National Bank 11.121 million shares, United Bank 10.375 million shares, PTCL 10.233 million shares namely.
Major gainers at the KSE include Nestle Pakistan and it gained 39.13 rupees/share, closing at Rs1136.01, Wyeth Pakistan gained 23.10 rupees taking its total value to Rs1352.10 with the trading of only 120 shares on Wednesday, Attock Petroleum (SPOT) added 11.58 rupees/share and closed at Rs290, PSO gained 9.21 rupees/share and closed at Rs193.45, Packages Limited gained 9.04 rupees and its total value was improved to 193.04, National Refinery also gained 6.86 rupees/share and closed at Rs153.21.
On the other hand, Rafhan Maize lost 69 rupees/ share and closed Rs 1330 with the trading of only 100 shares, Colgate Palm lost 15.40 rupees/share and its value was decreased to Rs292.97, Lakson Tobacco lost 8.31 rupees and closed at Rs157.98, EFU Life lost 6.48 rupees/share, closing at Rs123.16, EFU General Insurance lost 5.03 rupees/share and closed at Rs95.69, Sapphire Fiber Limited also lost 4.38 rupees and closed at Rs85.87.
Market experts were of the view that the investors remained hopeful on friends of Pakistan meeting on April 17 expecting foreign funds to stabilize the economy.
Developments on the political and economic front invited an across the board profit taking. Huge float offered through foreign selling of $ 7.1 million on Tuesday struggled to find ultimate buyers thereby disallowing support even at adjusted green numbers, and the index had to settle in negative zone.
"Minor downbeat invited the new entrants, from almost all the categories, in front line stocks of almost all the sectors. Short covering followed accumulation and the bench mark staged a strong recovery, thus ignoring the vague signals of uncertainty from various fronts, developments on economic front directed the activity, and the index accompanied by decent turnover ensured a healthy closing", expressed a market expert.
Although upcoming events ensure smooth sailing for the economy, the fragile political and alarming law and order situation will continue to restrict the upside, he added.