Mixed trend on KSE

The KSE-100 index on Friday closed at 11,967.35 points with a marginal gain of 5.17 points with low trading volume. The market witnessed mixed trend throughout the session with the index oscillating between 12,010.11 points intra-day high and 11,941.88 points intra-day low levels. Late buying in some select stocks, however, supported the index to close in positive zone.
Due to low participation from both local and foreign fronts, trading volume at ready counter declined to 56.643 million shares as compared to 64.353 million shares traded on Thursday. Of 335 active scrips, 128 closed in positive and 114 in negative, while the values of 93 stocks remained unchanged.
Jahangir Siddiqui Co was the volume leader with 10.622 million shares and gained Re 0.26 to close at Rs 7.13. Lotte Pakistan PTA lost Re 0.20 to close at Rs 15.36 with 9.116 million shares. Azgard Nine inched up by Re 0.06 to close at Rs 5.88 with 6.626 million shares. NIB Bank gained Re 0.13 to close at Rs 1.68 with 5.363 million shares. DG Khan (R) decreased by Re 0.36 to close at Rs 2.03 with 1.840 million shares. Nishat Chunian Power inched up by Re 0.05 to close at Rs 16.40 with 1.645 million shares.
Fauji Fertiliser Co (FFC) and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim increased by Rs 1.48 and Re 0.09 to close at Rs 41.83 with 1.371 million shares. Nishat (Chunian) lost Re 0.74 to close at Rs 24.56 with 1.293 million shares. Dewan Salman gained Re 0.03 to close at Rs 2.34 with 0.944 million shares. Nestle Pakistan and Unilever Pak were the highest gainers increasing by Rs 28.07 and Rs 22.82 to close at Rs 3553.63 and Rs 5200.00 respectively, while Rafhan Maize and Quetta Textile were the worst losers declining by Rs 38.33 and Rs 3.28 to close at Rs 2705.45 and Rs 62.29 respectively. Hasnain Asghar Ali at Aziz Fidahusein Co said that the bomb blasts in KP certainly added to the nervousness, thereby leading to a negative opening, while various high priced stocks witnessed renewed selling.
The Fauji group''s fertiliser stocks invited renewed buying from local and offshore counters, thereby besides inviting the day traders for short term bets, the activity allowed the index an early entry in the positive territory. Volumetric support in ANL and JSCL did keep traders active and, with snap rallies in various stocks, volumetric decline was in LOTPTA, mainly due to prolonged stagnation-led technical correction.
He said that the tough decision by the NA that may even change the country''s fundamentals and can impact financial agreements did caution the investors, thus disallowing any major activity at the local bourse. Caution was, therefore, quite evident, ahead of federal budget and monetary policy.