960425

KSE index gains 35

points in brisk trading

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Bullish fervour enveloped the stock market with fresh buying prompted by foreign fund houses and financial institutions which sent the index soaring by 35 points on Thursday.

The increased buying in PTC and Hub Power was due to improve activity in their foreign placements, the GDRs. The rates of both the GDRs have risen by nearly four and nine dollars respectively in the past three days. This influenced the prices of these scrips which climbed up by Rs. 1.95 and Rs. 1.40 respectively on Thursday.

According to an analyst, the pre-Eid rally embraced nearly all sectors. The resultant increase in the index was around 35 points. Heavyweights such as PTC and Hub Power recorded handsome gains and the whole market followed suit. Fuel and energy sector was the centre of attraction for the investors. This trend is likely to continue after the Eid holidays.

Pierre De La Tou, Investment Analyst of Crosby Securities, said that the improvement in the local market had a correlation with the rise of Indian bourses, from where a few foreign investors have switched over to the Karachi market.

Another encouraging factor, according to him, was the 2.7 billion dollars commitment by the World Bank Consortium for the next financial year, which bore testimony to the donor's faith in present government's economic policies. It will surely attract fresh flow of funds in the share market which is relatively cheaper than any other emerging market.

Tour said that foreign investors for the last three days had shown keen interest mainly owing to improvement in political situation in Karachi. He added that there was a likelihood that this bullish tendency would gain greater pace rushing towards new levels.

The KSE index showed a rise of 34.39 points and settled at 1590.68 as against 1556.29 of Wednesday. The major gainers were PSO (Rs 5) , Fauji Fertilizer (Rs 2.60), Kohinoor Energy (Rs 2.15), Hub Power (Rs 1.95), PTC (Rs. 1.40), Fecto Cement, Dewan Salman and Bankers Equity (Rs. 1.25 each), Askari Bank, Central Insurance, Honda Atlas Car and Engro Chemical (Rs. 1 each).

Ali Asghar of Fortune Securities, said that Thursday's session was a continuation of the trend of the past few days. There was some interest outside of both PTC and Hub Power in stocks such as Fauji Fertilizer, Lucky Cement and some banks. He expected the market to pick up after the Eid holidays from where it left off.

Fresh buying surfaced on a number of blue chips and allayed all fears of profit-taking activity. The business volume also improved from 26 million shares to 33 million shares, indicating that the short-term outlook appeared to be quiet encouraging. One of the leading analysts said that pre-budget buying had surfaced which was centered around select items which held a promise of good return.

The market is heading towards 1600 level and if the present buying tempo is maintained in the coming sessions the market may test new resistance level around 1610 to 1625. "The direction of the market after Thursday's gain is now quite clear and if nothing went wrong on the political, economic and corporate fronts, post-Eid bull run seems to be certain", said a stock trader.

The distinct improvement in the daily turnover indicated that investors had shrugged off their hesitancy and as started making covering purchases to square off their positions.

The volume on Thursday totalled to 33.617 million shares as against 30.003 million shares of Wednesday. Financial institutions struck sizeable deals in PTC, Hub Power, Gul Ahmed, ICP SEMF, KESC, ICI, Engro, IGI Insurance, Al-Faysal Bank, Indus Motors, Metro Bank, Ibrahim Energy and Fauji Fertilizer.

Hub Power on a business of 14.840 million shares registered an appreciable jump of Rs 1.95 to Rs 33.90. Only three issues showed declines, and prominent among the gains were PSO, KESC and Genertech. Kohinoor Energy from the same counter claimed third best position as around 1.777 million shares changed hands and the scrip showed a significant rise of Rs 2.15 ending at Rs 19.25.

PTC on a volume of 11.470 million shares registered an increase of Rs 1.40 to Rs 34.60. PNSC, Pak DataCom and Tri-Star Shipping remained unchanged, while PIAC moved to Rs 9 from Rs 8.50.

D. G. Khan (R) on total transaction of 529,000 shares remained unchanged at 40 paisa. Lucky Cement on deals of 515,000 shares depicted a sharp rise of Rs 1.15 to Rs 17.75. Dadabhoy Cement and Mustehkam Cement showed negative signs as against eleven gainers.

Among the 292 changes, 135 landed in the plus zone as against 88 losers while 69 remained unchanged.

Nayab Spinners Idrees Textile and Kohinoor Looms skipped payout for the year ended on September 30, 1995.

BOND SECTION: The buying and selling rate of FEBC remained unchanged at Rs 106.75 and Rs. 107 respectively.