Index gains 238.03 points

Healthy trading activities were witnessed at the Karachi share market on Friday on early implementation of leverage product and strong interest of foreign investors. The KSE-100 index surged by 238.03 points and closed at the level of 12,000.03 points. The market opened on a strong positive note and the index hit 12,082.52 points intra-day high level.
Trading activities significantly improved, as the volumes at ready counter increased to 187.492 million shares, as compared to 162.438 million shares traded on Thursday. The overall market capitalisation increased by Rs 59 billion to Rs 3.233 trillion. Out of the total 372 active stocks, 207 closed in positive and 74 in negative, while the value of 91 scrips remained unchanged.
Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 27.335 million shares, however lost Re 0.03 to close at Rs 15.98. Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim increased by Rs 1.45 to close at Rs 42.69 with 15.962 million shares. In the banking sector, Bank Al Falah lost Re 0.01 to close at Rs 10.00 with 14.050 million shares, while NBP increased by Rs 1.66 to close at Rs 80.57 with 11.919 million shares. Azgard Nine inched up by Re 0.64 to close at Rs 9.53 with 7.876 million shares. Jahangir Siddiqui Co gained Re 0.43 to close at Rs 9.75 with 7.296 million shares. TRG Pakistan closed at Rs 3.47, up Re 0.25 with 6.346 million shares.
PTCL gained Re 0.26 to close at Rs 18.17 with 6.039 million shares. Nishat (Chunian) increased by Rs 1.10 to close at Rs 27.32 with 5.711 million shares. Fauji Fertiliser surged by Rs 5.43 to close at Rs 125.25 with 5.488 million shares. Rafhan Maize and Unilever Pak were the highest gainers increasing by Rs 107.56 and Rs 91.62 to close at Rs 2720.02 and Rs 4700.03, respectively while Nestle Pakistan and Bata Pak were the worst losers declining by Rs 55.92 and Rs 15.29 to close at Rs 3410.21 and Rs 551.04, respectively.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Investments said that the bullish activity was witnessed in scrips across the board ahead of launch of leverage product of Margin Trading System (MTS) on Saturday by the Finance Minister.
The investors remained bullish throughout the trading session, as political uncertainty wanes out after local petroleum prices rationalised. The rise in global commodity prices, crude oil above $115 and renewed foreign interest in blue chip scrips played a catalyst role in positive activity at KSE, he added.