Index up 263.77 points

A bullish trend continued on the Karachi share market during the outgoing week ended March 09, 2012 on the back of both local and foreign investors support. The benchmark KSE-100 index increased by 263.77 points, up 2.0 percent on week-on-week basis and closed at 13,352.74 points.Trading activities at the futures counter improved significantly and the average daily volumes at ready counter increased by massive 66.7 percent to 355.05 million shares as compared to previous week''s average of 213.02 million shares.
Total market capitalisation increased by Rs 80 billion on week-on-week basis to Rs 3.472 trillion. The market opened on a strong positive note on Monday and the index registered healthy increase of 189.34 points to close at 13,278.31 points with total volume of 295.138 million shares. This trend continued on Tuesday and the index gained another 46.03 points to close at 13,324.34 points with 250.514 million shares. On Wednesday, the investors opted for profit taking and the index lost 79.39 points to close at 13,244.95 points with 318.609 million shares. The market witnessed fresh buying on Thursday on the back of reviving investors'' interest and the index gained 26.44 points to close at 13,271.39 points with 358.177 million shares.
The market witnessed another bullish session on Friday and the index increased by 81.35 points to close the week at 13,352.74 points with six-yeaer highest volumes of 552.793 million shares. "The market continued positive momentum during the week as index closed at 13,353 points gaining 263 points", Hasan Raza, an analyst at InvestCap said. He said the intraday volumes shot to 553 million shares on the last trading session. However, index heavyweights remained silent where most of the activity was seen in low tier scrips as average traded value of the market declined by 11.3 percent on week-on-week basis to $79.2 million. According to him, the ongoing rally in the market was further supported by S&P stance for maintaining the current rating of Pakistan to B-/Stable, though it stood cautious over the on-going political rift in the country. Meanwhile, the government re-initiating the privatisation programme to fetch Rs 30-35 billion was duly welcomed. Increase in cement dispatches by 3.48 percent to 20.45 million tones during eight months of FY12, increase in export prices to Afghanistan and prospects of cement exports to Saudi Arabia kept the cement scrips in limelight. In addition to that, bumper wheat production during current season and expectations of four percent of GDP growth this year by Finance Ministry also kept the market upbeat.
The Auto Sector performance by the end of the week also provided some support. Auto sales (car, LCV, and pickup) improved by 16 percent on year-on-year basis in the eight months of FY12. On the negative side, postponement of the 3G license auction by further two months due to failure of getting clearance from the Cabinet came as a dent. "Euphoria surrounding changes in Capital Gain Tax (CGT) modalities and a strong corporate result season continued to drive investor sentiment as the local bourse recorded an eighth successive week of a week-on-week gain", Furqan Ayub, an analyst at JS Global Capital said. Moreover, S&P keeping Pakistan''s rating unchanged and NBP''s financial result was perceived positively by investors. Although signs of consolidation were evident during the week as investors booked profits in selective blue chip stocks, the benchmark KSE-100 index still managed to gain 264 points during the week.