STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 30.04.2012

Stock

Karachi Stocks Down 105.38 Points:
KARACHI, Apr 26: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 14112.36, down 105.38 points..

April 27, 2012

 5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS:

Unilever Food	Rs 111.96	Siemens Pakistan	Rs (33.73)
UniLever Pak Ltd	Rs 109.87	Sanofi-Aventis	Rs (7.00)
Nestle Pakistan	Rs 92.08	ICI Pakistan	Rs (5.82)
Searle Pakistan	Rs 21.16	National Refinery	Rs (3.67)
Indus Dyeing	Rs 18.06	EFU Life Assur	Rs (3.58)

KSE-100 index slips 23.32 points

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) fell on Friday on sales of blue-chip National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) after it announced a lower-than-expected net profit for the quarter ending March 30, dealers said.
NBP announced a net profit of 4.6 billion rupees ($50.63 million)for Jan-March quarter, compared with a 4.2 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had been expecting a net profit of 5 billion rupees.
The bank did not announce any dividend with the result.
"Lower-than-expected profits by NBP resulted in profit taking in key stocks," said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities Ltd.
NBP shed 3.38 percent to end at 47.15 rupees.
The KSE benchmark 100-share index closed 0.17 percent, or 23.32 points, lower at 14,042.77 points on turnover of 196.16 million shares.
The index ended at 14,217.74 on Wednesday, the highest close since May 2008.
In the currency market, the rupee ended weaker at 90.85/90 to the dollar, compared with Thursday's close of 90.80/86 because of increased import payments.
The rupee has been supported by remittances, which rose 21.45 percent to $9.73 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $8.02 billion in the same period last year.
In March, remittances totaled $1.14 billion.
In its monetary policy statement this month, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said the external sector was likely to remain under pressure because of both external debt payments and a lack of foreign aid.
GDP growth is estimated at 3.2 percent for 2011/12 fiscal year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The growth target was 4.2 percent as originally presented in the budget announced June 2011 and later revised down to 4 percent following floods in August and September that year.
Current account deficit widened to a provisional $3.089 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $10 million over the same period in the previous year, the central bank said on Wednesday.
Overnight rates in the money market ended flat at 11.90 percent, unchanged from the previous day's close amid tight liquidity in the interbank market. (Reuters)

KSE likely to see some profit-selling KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) is expected to see some profit-selling and consolidate near and around the resistance level of 14,000 points next week, said dealers on Saturday. “Profit-selling would be a major salient feature of the KSE next week,” said Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corporation, adding that the expected stock-specific buying might dilute the selling pressure to some extent. In the week ended on April 27, the benchmark KSE-100 Index successfully recovered above 14,000 points resistance level after a gap of four years. During the week, the index increased by 106.29 points, or 0.76 percent, and stood at 14,042.77 points. Mehanti said that the index has surged by over 2,000 points in anticipation of the implementation of relaxed capital gains tax (CGT) regime, since the finance minister has announced to relax the tax regime in the middle of January. And those investors who have taken positions since January are expected to book profits in the post-CGT introduction era, he said. “Investors would also opt to book profits at the available margins, as there are still some questions in the implementation of the CGT regime in letter and spirit,” he said, adding that the presidential ordinance on the reformed tax regime is yet to be approved by the parliament to become a part of the next Finance Bill. The political noise regarding the conviction of Prime Minister Gilani in the contempt of court case would also convince investors to trim their positions in the post-earnings announcement season, he said. He said that most of the blue-chips have announced their earnings for the quarter ended on March 31 and may remain subject to profit-selling next week. Fundamentally, cement, energy and banking sector stocks, however, may invite some buying at the bourse that may relax the pressure on profit-selling to some extent, he said. An analyst at KASB Securities said that although the cloud of uncertainty over the CGT relief package has removed, certain questions remained unanswered over the practical implementation, which would keep investors cautious till further clarity. With financial results almost over, moreover, politics could take on a more decisive role as the ruling PPP has framed its counterstrategy in the aftermath of the PM’s conviction, he said. Pakistan-US relations are still awaited finishing touches where a firm breakthrough could pave the way for resumption of sovereign flows. Budget-related noise is also expected to pick up where sector-specific developments could play a role, he said. In the outgoing week, the average daily turnover trimmed by 4.4 percent to 257 million shares. Market capitalisation improved by Rs19 billion to Rs3,587 billion. More interestingly, foreign investors took fresh positions worth $12.7 million in the week. Naveed Tehsin, an analyst at Topline Securities, said that the much-awaited ordinance for changes in the CGT was released during the week. However, investors took a cautious stance and also disregarded better-than-expected results by the blue-chip stocks at the local bourse. Samar Iqbal, an equity dealer at Topline Securities, said that key results of oil, banking and cement stocks supported the index close above 14,000 points threshold in the week after a gap of four years.   MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI