Bullish spell deepens

Despite foreign selling, Pakistan Stock Exchange remained bullish on Friday. The benchmark KSE-100 index registered a healthy gain of 363.54 points to close at highest-ever level of 43,270.90 points. Buying was seen mainly by local investors and institutions while the foreign investors remained net sellers of shares withdrawing $0.7 million from the bourse.
Trading activity remained thin due to absence of retail investors and the daily trading volumes declined to 374.959 million shares as compared to 504.436 million shares traded Thursday. The market capitalization increased by Rs 49 billion to Rs 8.788 trillion. Out of total 416 active scrips, 252 closed in positive, 149 in negative while the value of 15 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 50.219 million shares. It gained Rs 0.31 to close at Rs 3.19 followed by Azgard Nine that increased by Rs 1.00 to close at Rs 9.64 with 22.813 million shares. Bank of Punjab gained Rs 0.25 to close at Rs 18.89 with 20.299 million shares. Wyeth Pak and Khyber Tobacco were the top gainers with Rs 169.16 and Rs 43.25, respectively to close at Rs 4,288.96 and Rs 1,130.25. Bata Pak and Island Textile were top losers with Rs 94.08 and Rs 55.25, respectively to close at Rs 4,300.00 and Rs 1,054.75.
An analyst at Global Securities said that the market carried forward Thursday''s momentum, gaining 250 points and breaking through the 43,000 level resistance as the first half of the session concluded. The market continued to trend higher after the second session commenced and settled at 43,271 points, up 0.85 percent. The day''s top contribution was provided by the financial sector with HBL, MCB and UBL providing 150 points towards the day''s rally as the sector was likely supported by institutional and foreign buying. Other top contributors were SEARL, PKGS and MTL with contributions of 27 points, 19 points and 18 points, respectively. After Thursday''s rally, Pakistan''s oil and gas sector remained relatively stable during the session despite international oil prices hovering above $50/bbl after the Opec deal.