Index crosses 13,000 mark

A bullish trend continued on the Karachi share market during the outgoing week ended on March 02, 2012 on the back of both local and foreign investors support. The benchmark KSE-100 index increased by 382.45 points on week-on-week basis to close above 13,000 psychological level at 13,088.97 points, the highest level after June 2008.
Trading activities however was reduced during the week as the average daily volumes at ready counter declined by 11.1 percent to 213.02 million shares as compared to previous week''s average of 239.62 million shares. Total market capitalisation increased by Rs 82 billion to Rs 3.392 trillion.
The foreign investors continued with increased net inflows in Pak equities as they injected $5.6 million this week against $1.5 million in the previous week.
The market opened on positive note and the index increased by 37.14 points to close at 12,743.66 points with total volume of 205.790 million shares on Monday. The index lost 4.44 points on Tuesday due to profit taking in last hours and closed at 12,739.22 points with 217.592 million shares.
Fresh buying on Wednesday supported the index to register an increase of 138.66 points to close at 12,877.88 points with 206.475 million shares. the index gained another 63.50 points to close at 12,941.38 points with 182.219 million shares. The market witnessed another bullish session on Friday and the index surged by 147.59 points and closed the week at 13,088.97 points with 253.003 million shares.
"The investors'' interest was developed on healthy corporate results alongside developments on CGT related issues", Yawar Uz Zaman, an analyst at InvestCap said. In this regard, the proposed 8th Schedule in the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 to cater to CGT-related issue supported investors'' confidence in the market while SECP proposed the minimum holding period to be 120 days for investors, which was happily welcomed by investors, he added.
Naveed Tehsin at JS Global Capital said that KSE continued with its bullish momentum despite the concerns relating to the imposition of revised CGT regime. Consequently, the KSE-100 Index breached the 13,000 level for the first time since June 12, 2008.
The construction and materials sector outperformed the broader market by 21 percent on week-on-week basis, supported by strong earnings outlook of the cement companies due to improved margins. Whereas, Engro remained in the limelight after the news flows pertaining to resumption of gas to their Enven plant. As a result, it also outperformed the market by 18 percent on week-on-week basis.