STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 26.03.2013

STOCKS

Karachi Stocks Down 1.21 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 25: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 17,961.91, Down 1.21 points.

(Today Market is 57.47 Down@ 10.36 am)

March 25, 2013

 5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS:

UniLever Pak	Rs 110.00	Sunrays Textile	Rs (13.15)
Indus Dyeing	Rs 19.00	Exide (PAK)	Rs (11.19)
Philip Morris Pak.	Rs 14.15	Tri-pack films	Rs (2.83)
Mitchells Fruit	Rs 7.50	Pak Oilfeilds	Rs (2.81)
Packages Ltd	Rs 7.20	Atlas Battery	Rs (2.78)

Late-selling wipes out early gains

KARACHI, March 25: Stocks ended flat on Monday with the KSE-100 index settling at 17,961.91 points, just 1.21 points lower than the last close on Friday.
An early euphoria over the appointment of care-taker prime minister saw equities surge carrying the KSE-100 index to an intra-day high at 18,071 points, easily knocking down the barrier of 18,000 and posting an intra-day gain of 108 points.
Institutional investors, however, seized the opportunity to book profits at upper levels, which quickly pulled back the index. Dealers said that the investor focus was on upcoming elections and the day-to-day developments.
Analysts said that realisation soon dawned that the appointment of caretaker PM was just the first stepping stone towards the smooth election process.
The arrival of retired General Pervez Musharraf on Monday and the expected return of Akhtar Mengal, leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal on Monday were seen as major developments.
The show of strength by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf at its public meeting on March 23 and its seat adjustment with Jamaat-i-Islami were other developments that investors watched with interest.
Strong reservations by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement over the delimitation of national and provincial constituencies also kept investor on the sidelines. “Everyone hopes that there would be smooth sailing to the May 11 elections, however, it could scarcely be ignored that there are many a slip between the cup and the lip”, said one big broker.
Shares retreated in the last hour. Punters and day traders took advantage of volatility to make quick gains. Turnover at the market was down to 154 million shares on Monday, from 161 million shares traded the previous session and the trading value dipped to Rs4.85 billion, from Rs6.03bn.
Analysts at Standard Capital Securities stated that in spite of lingering issues related to economic indicators that the country was facing relating to budgetary constraints, dip in reserves with the country about to pay installment to IMF and pressure on the rupee, investors were buying safe stocks such as cements.
The news flow on the economic side was hardly encouraging as some economists feared that the budget deficit could reach 6.3 per cent of GDP, considerably higher than the 4.7 per cent targeted by the government in the budget 2012-13 and reports that the World Bank was reconsidering the funding for country’s power sector over some differences over the appointment of Coordinator power sector.
The market capitalisation based-KSE-30 index shed 10.41 points to end at 14,247.31 points. Market capitalisation was up by Rs3bn to Rs4.386 trillion, from Rs4.383tr last Friday.
In all, 318 stocks came up for trading with 133 gainers; 155 losers and 30 remaining unchanged.
The highest increase in price was noted in UniLever Pak, which rose by Rs110 to Rs10,910, followed by Indus Dyeing up by Rs19 to Rs456.
On the declining side, Sunrays Textile was down by Rs13.15 to Rs250.10 and Exide (Pak) lower by Rs11.19 to Rs350.
The 10-top volume leaders were PIA with 21m shares traded up by 14 paisa to Rs6.82. It was followed by Lotte PakPTA down by 15 paisa to Rs7.30 on 14m shares. TRG Pakistan gained 35 paisa to Rs7.81 on 12m shares, Engro Corporation gained Rs1.56 to Rs130.88 on 10m shares, Maple Leaf Cement slid by 56 paisa to Rs17.54 on 10m shares, Fauji Cement slipped eight paisa to Rs8.53 on 7m shares, D.G. Khan Cement gained 63 paisa to Rs69.89 on 6m shares, Dewan Motors was up by 49 paisa to Rs3.63 on 6m shares, Jah Sidd Co was down by 32 paisa to Rs14.09 on 6m shares and Lafarge Pakistan edged higher by one paisa to Rs6.55 on 4m shares.
Karachi Stock Exchange has a flat finish: KARACHI: The profit-takers brought Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) down to an absolutely flat end here on Monday, Geo News reported.
By the time the traders called it a day, the benchmark KSE-100 Index with a loss of just 0.01 percent, or 1.20 points, closed lower at 17,961.91 points.
The market crossed the key psychological 18,000-point level during the intra-day trade, drawing strength from the appointment of caretaker prime minister.
Analysts say Mir Hazar Khan Khoso’s assumption of interim prime minister office came as a sentiment booster.
They added that it was a sign of political calm, so what if till May 11 general elections.
Another analyst said after topping the 18,000 mark the market witnessed low volumes, which led to profit-taking.
Today mostly mid cap stocks remained in focus, he added.
Among the star performers today were Engro Corporation Ltd, which rose 1.14 percent to 130.79 rupees, and Nishat Mills Ltd that fell by 1.15 percent to 83.48 rupees.

MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI