Index up 164.29 points

The persisting foreign investors' interest supported the KSE-100 index to register an increase of 164.29 points during the week ended on December 31, 2010, to close at 12,022.46 points. Trading also improved and the average daily volume at ready counter increased to 116 million shares as compared to previous week's 100 million shares.
Market capitalisation increased by Rs 46 billion to Rs 3.268 trillion. On Monday, the market opened on a positive note and the index increased by 51.56 points to close at 11,909.73 points with volume of 85.156 million shares.
On Tuesday, investors opted for profit taking and the index lost 61.68 points to close at 11,848.05 points with 110.110 million shares.
On Wednesday, investors' interest revived, which supported the index to recover 37.97 points to close at 11,886.02 points with 99.797 million shares.
On Thursday, the market witnessed a bullish session on the back of both local and foreign investors' support and the index surged by 145.44 points to close at 12,031.46 points with 140.044 million shares.
On Friday, the index lost 9.00 points and closed the week at the level of 12,022.46 points with 144.263 million shares.
Imran Safdar, analyst at Invest Capital and Securities, said that the local bourse witnessed traditional year-end rally to give a cheerful farewell to the year. The KSE-100 index was in the grip of positive sentiment that resulted in an increase of 1.38 percent.
Although the average daily volume increased by 16 percent, still shy of a respectable level. The weekly volumes were a miniature of yearly volumes as the investors shied away from the market on account of uncertainties prevalent on the political and economic fronts.
A vital support for the index, foreign inflow, for the outgoing year remained encouraging during the week with an inflow of $12.2 million.
Angela Memon at JS Global Capital said that the week ended on a hopeful note for the new year, with the market crossing the 12,000 points barrier for the first time since, Jul 3, 2008.
The IMF's approved 9-month extension in the Stand-by Arrangement program to allow more time for the government to meet its conditionalities provided a breather in the currently tense political situation. The release of $633 million under Coalition Support Fund this week spelled good news for the forex reserves, which stood at $16.4 billion (as of 24 Dec).
Bestway Holding signed an agreement to purchase ADG's 20 percent stake in UBL at Rs 80/share, which upon regulatory approval, will raise the former's stake to 51 percent. Initially, this parked substantial buying interest in UBL, but later, UBL clarified that Bestway will not have to make a tender offer, with it being a change in shareholding within the consortium. Despite the government of Pakistan stepping in to question the fertilizer price hike, FFC continued rallying on the understanding of it being the largest beneficiary of this, +3.7 percent on week-on-week basis.