KARACHI - Despite profit taking sentiment, the benchmark KSE 100-index managed to close in positive zone, attaining 85 points on Tuesday. The benchmark 100 Index closed at 7,430.08 points. Index witnessed sessions high level of 7,466.75 points and low level of 7,187.25 points. Trading activity at the KSE was better with the trading of 181.905m shares on Tuesday as compared to 137.505m shares traded on Monday. Total trading value of the market climbed up to 10.982b rupees against 7.377b rupees of last session. Strategy to stay focused on main board stocks is likely to be beneficial because of expected further erosion in second or third tier stocks mainly due to lack of investors interest, said a market expert. Out of 334 scrips at the Karachi stock market, 136 advanced, 179 declined while the worth of the shares of 19 companies remained unchanged. Market capitalisation also improved to Rs2.213 trillion against Rs2.191 trillion of last session. NBP was the volume leader with the trading of 16.609m shares. Other noted shares include FFBL with 12.335m shares, Arif Habib Securities 11.706m shares, MCB Bank 10.678m shares, Jahangir Siddiqui 10.508m shares, Pak Petroleum 9.210m shares, OGDC 8.838m shares, Bank Al-Falah 6.476m shares, Engro Chemicals 6.093m shares namely. Prominent gainers at the KSE include Siemens Pakistan and it gained Rs36.30/share, closing at Rs762.30 with the trading of only 600 shares on Tuesday, Hinopak Motor added Rs7.62/share and closed at Rs192.94, Indus Motor gained Rs6.74/share and its total value was improved to Rs141.58, Treet Corporation added Rs6.60/share and closed at Rs138.60, Millat Tractors closed at Rs249.97, adding Rs4.47/share, National Foods gained Rs4.36/share and closed at Rs91.65. Conversely, Nestle Pakistan lost Rs40/share and closed at Rs1,000 with the trading of only 200 shares, Service Industries lost Rs8.06/share, closing at Rs153.24, MCB Bank lost Rs7.90/share and its value was decreased to Rs168.53, ICI Pakistan lost Rs6.75/share and closed at Rs139.76, Attock Refinery closed at Rs121.71, losing Rs5.26/share, EFU General Insurance lost Rs5.10/share and closed at Rs113.34. Market experts were of the view that investors sentiment has more to do with fundamental and economic situation. Moreover, quarterly results are the major reasons behind the market performance whether bad or good. In addition to this the upcoming budget, rumours and proposals related to it will be the key focal point going forward. Investors who grabbed the stocks at the beginning of the year have started booking gains as they have already made handsome gains. Once again our index is among the best performing indexes globally, as speedy recovery of stocks keep investors eyes glowing, analyst Bilal Asif said. He further said that during the current phase, the funds are holding stocks for long-term gain. Engro results turned out to be better as against analysts expectation. Lower than expected result of ICI instigated the bear to put the accelerator. OGDC, PPL, HBL, UBL and NBP gained and provided much needed support to the index.