STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 21.03.2013

STOCKS

Karachi Stocks Up 70.44 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 20: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 17763.81, up 70.44 points. 

(Today Market is 158.13 Up@ 10.48 am)

March 20, 2013

 5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS:

Rafhan Maize	Rs 91.50	UniLever Pak	Rs (208.50)
National Foods	Rs 10.28	Colgate Palmolive	Rs (91.60)
Philip Morris Pak	Rs 10.20	PIA	Rs (17.22)
Engro Corporation	Rs 5.66	Wyeth Pakistan	Rs (10.00)
Faisal Spinning	Rs 4.69	Clariant Pakistan	Rs (6.80)

Stocks add 61 points on selective buying

KARACHI, March 20: Stocks ended higher on Wednesday and volume rose as investors accumulated shares of MCB Bank, Engro and DG Khan Cement on attractive levels, dealers said.
The KSE 100-index rose 0.34 per cent, or 60.6 points, to 17,753.97 points. It traded in a narrow range as it made an intraday high at 17,768.64 and low at 17,672.58.
Turnover increased to 265.88m shares on Wednesday, compared with 162.5m shares traded on Tuesday. Trading value also rose by over Rs2 billion to Rs7.59bn from the previous day’s Rs5.27bn. Market capitalisation stood at Rs4.363 trillion compared with Tuesday’s Rs4.367tr.
Dealers said that the market was news driven where investors waited for a clearer picture to emerge on the caretaker set-up.
“Although the interim period prime minister may be lacking the powers to make major policy decisions, the presence of a person conversant with the state of economy could be helpful”, said an economist.
Individual investors remained on the sidelines lest they lost money in a volatile market.
“Investors were looking for cues when the market started and the index vacillated between green and red zone at which point Engro came into investor focus and consolidated the rising trend. A total of 13.9m shares of Engro were traded and the share closed at Rs126.61, an increase of Rs5.66.
PTCL plunged to its lower circuit when courts vacated the stay against the hearing by Competition Commission of Pakistan and set March 27 for the hearing.
“The market is expected to maintain this range-bound behaviour, booking profits on any opportunity that is available for the time being,” Arif Habib Equity Sales said in a report.
Dealers also said the official announcement that the elections would be held on May 11 erased some political uncertainty.
Foreigners remained net buyers as they bought $2.65 million worth shares on Wednesday, compared with net buying of $4.11 million the earlier day, raising the total net buying for the month to equities worth $21.9 million.
The continuous foreign inflow in the equity market dimmed fears that were triggered early in the week of a potential global market slump in consequence of the Cyprus issue. Companies were the biggest sellers with equity worth $2.13m. Banks and mutual funds were on the buying side.
The biggest gainer for the day was Rafhan Maize, up Rs91.50 at Rs3,750 followed by National Foods, which rose Rs10.28 to Rs303.
UniLever Pakistan being the biggest loser slumped by Rs208.50 to Rs10,700, followed by Colgate Palmolive, down Rs91.60 to Rs1,740.40 The KSE-30 index ended 0.43 per cent, or 61.68 points, lower at 14,245.20 points.
Out of the 327 companies traded, the value of 168 increased, 136 decreased while 23 remained unchanged.
The second and third tier companies dominated the 10 most actively traded list: Lafarge Pakistan topped with volume of 44m shares, up 59 paisa to Rs6.59, PTCL fell 66 paisa to Rs19.65 on 29m shares and TRG Pakistan gained 20 paisa to Rs7.08 on 26m shares, Telecard declined by 44 paisa to Rs5.53 on 15m shares, D.G. Khan Cement jumped by Rs2.63 to Rs67.61 on 15m shares.
Fauji Cement rose eight paisa to Rs8.22 on 14m shares, Engro hit its upper circuit after gaining Rs5.66 to Rs126.61 on 13.92m shares and Maple Leaf Cement ended nine paisa lower at Rs17.70 on 12m shares.
Nishat Mills was up by 27 paisa to Rs82.24 on 8m shares, WorldCall Telecom gained eight paisa to Rs2.94 on 7.1m shares.

SECP’s electronic filing facility

ISLAMABAD, March 20: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has made it mandatory upon listed companies to file returns, documents, applications and accounts to the registrar of the SECP through its eServices online filing facility.
Earlier, this requirement was applicable to only those companies which had been incorporated through eServices online filing facility.
Effective May 13, the requirement has also been made applicable to companies which filed their last statutory documents through eServices or would file any statutory documents through eServices from the date of applicability of the notification.
The SECP has also placed the relevant notification at its website.
Local bourse closes 60 points up: KARACHI: Equities at the local bourse closed higher on Wednesday, led by Engro Corporation, Muslim Commercial Bank and cement companies, traders said.
Karachi Stock Exchange's (KSE) benchmark 100-shareindex ended 0.34 percent, or 60.60 points, higher at 17,753.97 points.
Engro Corporation climbed 4.92 percent to 126.90rupees and Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd rose 0.88 percent to 190.50 rupees. Lafarge Pakistan Cement Ltd was up9.83 percent to 6.59 rupees.
In the currency market, the rupee ended weaker at98.15/98.20 against the dollar, compared to Tuesday's close of 98.13/98.18
Overnight rates in the money market remained flat at 9percent. (Reuters)

MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI