The Stock Exchange

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The optimism hovering on the higher side placed the Karachi bourse to a 14-month high above 9,800 points on Wednesday.

The day closing is also the current calendar year’s highest level with market producing good turnover above 300 million shares. KSE 100-share index rose by another 1.93 per cent or 193.39 points and closed at 9,836.50 points. This is the highest closing level after August 25, 2008 closing at 9,813.66 points.

Moreover, it also replaced previous highest closing of the calendar year 2009 at 9,713.83 points recorded on September 24. Analysts said the continuous inflow of dollars in leap quantum; KSE’s proposal to the SECP suggesting it for approving two leverage products for ready market; the recovering of world economies amid equity markets from recession; rebound in international oil price; and local cement prices too altogether gave strong reasoning to the investors placing market to this height.

The investors, however, put aside the scathing criticism on Kerry-Lugar bill from notable institutions and quarters of Pakistan. They added, if Pakistan rejects to accept the bill, which is the likely scenario following criticism of Pak Army, then the country might be pushed to face some hardship, as the country has seen some financial dreams on the basis of receiving that aid under the bill. The optimism spread on across the board and almost each sectors generated a handsome turnover too under the lead of bank, cement and energy stocks.

The day turnover rose higher to 341.06 million shares on ready board, which is over 28 per cent higher than 265.62 million shares changed hands yesterday. Turnover in future market also surged to 2.67 million from 1.94 million shares traded a day earlier.

But, the players of pushing market to this height were not the same, as they were yesterday. In this session the foreigners along with local fund managers injected $7.4 million and $10.4 million, respectively. On the contrary, local companies and individual investors opted to exit from market at this sensitive juncture.

They respectively disinvested $5.0 million and $12.7 million this session, according to NCCPL. Accordingly, the overall market capitalisation surged by Rs59 billion and stood at Rs2,853 billion.

Ahsan Mehanti at Shahzad Chamdia Securities said intense buying continued on foreign buying, spike in international oil prices near to $72 a barrel on weak dollar ahead of September results announcement session. Expectation of approval of leverage products by Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), record results expectation in oil, banks and fertilizer sectors and rise in global capital markets played a catalyst role in positive activity at KSE, he added.

Hasnain Asghar Ali at Aziz Fidahusein said magic of likely introduction of leverage products at the market kept bulls alive. Despite the fact that technical details of new products are unknown to many, but seasoned participants seemed hopeful of products. With the product, if it is carrying basic properties of CFS, it is likely to contribute substantially in bringing back the lost glory of local bourses, higher turnover and price discovery.

Wide spread activity was seen in almost all the sectors, rising trend in the international oil prices kept the sentiment high in the leading stocks of oil & gas exploration sector while cement and banking stocks contributed substantially to the turnover along with investment companies, as both local corporate and retail participants stayed active, Ali added. Out of total 436 actives, 246 stocks advanced, 174 stocks declined, while the value of remaining 16 stocks remained unchanged.

Highest volumes were seen in Bank Al-Falah at 38.17 million closing at Rs14.10 with a gain of 52 paisa, followed JS Company at 22.65 million closing at Rs39.99 with a loss of one paisa, Lucky Cement at 17.74 million closing at Rs84.26 with a gain of Rs4.01, AH Securities at 14.70 million closing at Rs43.75 with a gain of Rs1.61, and National Bank at 14.54 million closing at Rs87.17 with a gain of Rs2.78.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Lahore stock market on Wednesday surged past 3,000 points in a rally led by banking, oil and gas and cement sectors.

The market closed up 71 points at 3,045 with trading volume high at 32.9 million shares. Out of 124 active shares, gainers were 63, losers 20 and 41 unchanged. Bank Alfalah was again the volume leader, recording a turnover of 5.8 million shares. Four of the top 10 volume leaders were from the banking sector.

Millat Tractors was the major gainer which soared Rs23.54 to close at Rs490.02. It was followed by MCB which gained Rs9.59 to Rs232.36.

Habib Bank and United Bank were also among top 10 gainers, adding Rs4.57 and Rs3.01 to their share values respectively.

Engro Chemical was the major loser as its share price fell Rs1.88 to close at Rs178.65.

In the morning, the market started on a positive note and the buoyancy continued till the end. However, mutual funds’ performance in the rising market was below par as almost 50 funds were under pressure.

Leasing companies were mostly under pressure and their performance was not in line with the market trend.

Commercial banks performed in line with the bullish market and only two small banks fell. The insurance sector was also buoyant, though seven insurance firms declined. Most of the efficient and large sugar mills closed the day lower while small mills posted gains.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Karachi stocks market failed to sustain the 14-month high gains on Thursday, while apprehensions related to the Kerry Lugar Bill in the country convinced local investors to book profits at the available margins.

On the contrary, the foreign portfolio investors remained highly optimistic and appeared as net buyer of $13.3 million in this session at local bourses, according to NCCPL.

The futures market hit its record high turnover of 6.08 million shares against 2.67 million shares traded a day earlier.

The KSE 100-share Index, therefore, witnessed a technical correction of 95.63 points or 0.97 per cent and closed at 9,740.87 points. Its junior partner the 30-Index shed 162.41 points or 1.55 per cent and ended at 10,345.94 points.

The banks, insurances, oil & gas exploration & production companies, telecom, fertilizer, textile, oil marketing companies and refineries saw selling pressure.

The cement sector stayed neutral to positive as DG Khan Cement closed pegged at opening level, while Lucky Cement managed to post a slight gain. The two cement giants led the list of volume leaders of the day.

All the local players including fund managers, companies and individual investors turned to be cautious and realized capital gains in an overbought market. According to NCCPL, they disinvested $4.3 million, $8.6 million and $0.3 million, respectively.

Accordingly, the overall market capitalisation posted a decline of Rs25 billion and stood at Rs2,828 billion. Turnover fell to 316.58 million shares from 341.06 million shares yesterday.

Another analyst commented that bears were quite visible during the early trading hours, triggered by ongoing argument on conditions attached with US aid having the capacity of inviting turbulences in the political environment.

Increase in T-Bill yields and increase in money growth, indicating an extension in stringent monetary policy and the opinion of likely 10 per cent correction expressed by foreign fund added to the pressure and the index underwent a mild adjustment, he added.

The local participants accumulated main board stocks on dips in oil & gas exploration, cement and banking sectors, thus allowing the index to consolidate near and around current levels.

With the opening of market in grey area, it hit intra-day high of 9,936.32 points and touched 9,707.04 points intra-day low - moving either side of the fence by 229.28 points.

Although an adjustment in the local interest rate will be essential for likely increase in valuation of listed companies besides providing a spur to the over all economy, upcoming results may help market to consolidate around current levels.

Timely introduction of the proposed leverage products may provide the local traders with ample liquidity.

Out of total 428 actives there were 237 decliners and 164 advancers, while the value of remaining 27 stocks remained unchanged.

Highest volumes were witnessed in DG Khan Cement at 28.34 million closing pegged at Rs35.75, followed Lucky Cement at 27.23 million closing at Rs84.66 with a gain of 40 paisa, JS Company at 19.49 million closing at Rs38.10 with a loss of Rs1.89, National Bank at 18.53 million closing at Rs87.03 with a loss of 14 paisa, and Bank Al-Falah at 17.54 million closing at Rs13.81 with a loss of 29 paisa.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

Lahore Stock Market closed below 3,000 points level after losing 63 points on Thursday amid healthy trading volumes as all the sectors and companies saw yesterday’s gains wiped out.

There were 125 active shares in the market out of which only 22 managed to gain some value, 51 closed in negative zone and 52 companies were traded at their opening value. The trading volume was healthy at 32.42 million shares. Bank Alfalah was again the volume leader recording a turnover of 5.54 million shares. Five commercial banks were among the top ten volume leaders out of which four were among losers.

Mari Gas Companies continued to gain heavily and was the major gainer at LSE with an increase of Rs15.52 in its share to close at Rs325.94. It was followed by Indus Motors that gained Rs6.18 to close at Rs209.79. Habib Bank also gained Rs5.81 to close at Rs136.89. Pakistan State Oil was the major loser shedding Rs9.42 from its share value to close at Rs323.19.

Market experts have expressed disappointment at the dilly-dallying in the capital market that smacks of manipulation. Former chairman Lahore Stock Exchange Naeem A Khan said that the capital market is lacking stability. He said the movement of the index these days is independent of any economic logic.

He said that it seems that few players are taking advantage of the lax attitude of the regulators and are busy skimming some quick bucks from small investors. He opined that the market should remain the range of 2500-2800 points until political and economic stability is ensured.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The suicide bomb attack in Peshawar at a time when the Karachi bourse was all set to test the 10,000 points psychological barrier on Friday, shattered investors’ confidence badly.

The foreign players, however, dared to drive more dollars into the local market and helped it maintaining in positive territory with clipped gains.

The KSE 100-share Index managed to recover 27.76 points or 0.28 per cent and closed at 9,768.63 points. The parallel running junior 30-Index also regained 35.31 points or 0.34 per cent and ended at 10,381.25 points.

Majority of front line stocks managed to close on positive note including bank and energy sectors. But some of them, mainly in fertilizer sector, fell in red.

Either it was a coincident or not, but fact of the mater is that the market was mounting towards the 10,000 points milestone breakthrough just before the heinous act of crime, the suicide blast, happened in Peshawar market around 12 noon.

The blast, claiming about 49 lives besides dozens others wounded, put a full-stop on investors’ optimism and convinced them to revisit their plans of taking market to immediate psychological test, analysts commented.

With a robust opening in green, the market surged to 9,925.30 points intra-day high in first of twin-trading weekend sessions - increasing by 184.43 points from opening level. “So, from 12 noon to 4pm with a prayer break, market had enough time to test 10,000 points or nearby the threshold,” they added.

Falling from the day peak to intra-day low of 9,728.83 points by the time the closing bell rang in second session the offshore investors injected another $5.6 million in this session, according to NCCPL.

On the contrary, all quarters of local investors opted to exit from market owing to privileging of risk factor. They (fund managers, companies and individual investors) withdrew $0.2 million, $2.5 million and $2.7 million, respectively.

Accordingly, the overall market capitalisation improved by seven billion rupees and stood at Rs2,835 billion.

Turnover fell to 239.66 million shares from 316.58 million shares yesterday showing a decline of 27.5 per cent on day-to-day basis. Turnover in future market was also cut short by over three times to 1.93 million shares from 6.08 million shares a day earlier.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said that positive activity witnessed as oil prices crossed $71 per barrel on weak dollar.

Institutional and retail interest witnessed in banks, oil and cement sectors on dips on expectation about strong result announcements next week for September quarter.

Oil & gas discovery by OGDCL in Sanghar; rise in foreign exchange reserves to $14.75 billion; surge in global equity markets; and expectation of early approval of leverage products altogether played a catalyst role in positive activity at KSE, he added.

Analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali commented that dollar based buying mainly in the banking stocks kept the momentum high. The sector was earlier disturbed due to various economic and political concerns and expectation of enhancement of non-performing loans indeed. The oil and gas exploration and marketing stocks also joined the rally during the day.

Out of total 404 actives, 209 stocks advanced, 179 stocks declined, while the value of remaining 16 stocks remained unchanged.

Highest volumes were witnessed in JS Company at 21.06 million closing at Rs38.35 with a gain of 25 paisa, followed Bank Al-Falah at 20.26 million closing at Rs14.40 with a gain of 59 paisa, AH Securities at 15.21 million closing at Rs43.68 with a gain of Rs1.58, Pakistan Telecommunication Company at 11.14 million closing at Rs20.36 with a loss of 42 paisa, and NIB Bank at 7.65 million closing at Rs5.62 with a gain of eight paisa.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Lahore stock market recorded small gains of six points on the last working day of the week on Friday amid a sharply reduced trading volume. The LSE 25-share index closed the day at 2,988 points.

Active issues totalled 125, of which 38 rose, 34 fell and 53 remained unchanged. Trading volume was 22.48 million shares, down 10m compared to the volume on Thursday.

Bank Alfalah with a turnover of 4.5 million shares was the volume leader for the fourth day running.

Pakistan State Oil was the major gainer, rising Rs6.59 to close at Rs329.78. Mari Gas continued the upswing for the third consecutive day by gaining Rs5.35 at Rs331.29.

Glaxo SmithKline was the major loser as its share price declined by Rs5.80 to close at Rs111.20.

Most of the mutual funds were at the receiving end. Commercial banks, however, were buoyant. All major banks posted gains ranging from Rs0.13 to Rs1.32.

Sugar and cement sectors depicted a mixed trend. Three of the four refineries posted losses while Pak Refinery saw an increase of Rs1.64.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Islamabad stock market closed in the positive territory on Friday. The ISE 10-share index was up by 10.91 points to close at 2,277.82 points from its previous level of 2,266.91 points. Of the total 164 participant companies, 83 climbed upward and 81 turned negative. However, the total turnover decreased to 1.556 million shares from 2.540 million shares at the opening of the day, showing a total decrease of 0.981 million shares. Simens Engineering was the top gainer as its share value shot up by Rs 54.99 to close at Rs 1,479.99 after opening at Rs 1,425. Unilever Pakistan was the major loser of the day as its share price declined by Rs 56.80 to close at Rs 2,213 as compared to its previous level of Rs 2,269.80. In terms of volume Arif Habib Securities was on top with 0.243 million shares.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 9,900 level during this week’s trading for the first time in the last 13 months.

But the bomb blast in Peshawar on Friday eroded the gains and the Index could not maintain the above level.

The market witnessed heavy fluctuations this week which were triggered mainly by the fragile law and order situation in the country and the major Index stood at 9,769 at weekend. The Index gained 314 points during the week.

The average trade volume was recorded at 270 million shares.

KSE-30 Index finished 210 points up to 10,381.

[zees]

KSE DOCUMENTARY

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The fast deteriorating law & order situation in the country, worsened by the latest terrorist attack on garrison General Head Quarter (GHQ) in Islamabad, badly affected investment sentiments at the Karachi bourse on Monday.

The market, therefore, fell by 1.29 per cent, while the making of Client Level Margining System (CLMS) operational from this session resulted in reducing the day turnover to just above 150 million shares. Moreover, the long-term offshore investors also opted to book profits in this session though the quantum of outflow dollars was not of great significance.

The KSE 100-share Index posted a decline of 126.07 points or 1.29 per cent and closed at 9,642.56 points. The parallel running junior 30-Index lost 126.56 points or 1.22 per cent and settled at 10,254.69 points.

“The market witnessed a major correction due to security concerns across the country as only in four days three terrorist incidents were witnessed which shattered investors’ confidence,” Furqab Punjani at Topline Securities said and added, “Notification by Ministry of Finance regarding reporting of all transactions above Rs2.5 million coupled with full implementation of client level margining system further pressured market into red numbers.”

In line with enforcement of CLMS, the day turnover abruptly fell to 156.71 million shares, which is approximately 35 per cent lower than 239.66 million shares changing hand on weekend.

The CLMS bounds brokers to collect 15-20 per cent of total investment from their clients before they (clients) opt for making investment in the shares market. This mandatory 15-20 per cent prior investment collection is called margins, it was learnt.

On the contrary, turnover in future market rose to 2.36 million shares against 1.93 million shares traded on Friday. The across the board price-erosion, furthermore, resulted in a wipe out of total Rs35 billion from overall market capitalisation reduced to Rs2,800 billion.

Stocks like Pakistan State Oil, JS Company, AH Securities, Engro Chemical and EFU Life Insurance performed well in expectation of good earnings ahead of September end-quarter results season.

As per NCPPL report, the offshore investors withdrew $681 thousand in this session in this session. Local companies and fund managers also fuelled the day bearish rally as they disinvested $1.32 million and $1.23 million in net, respectively.

Local individual investors, however, appeared quite optimistic and bought shares worth $3.24 million in total, according to NCCPL. Hasnain Asghar Ali at Aziz Fidahusein said that technically heavy index got stuck in a narrow band.

The outstanding and lingering issue of Kerry Lugar Bill and the GHQ incident kept the investors cautious while seasoned participants kept trading.

Foreign reaction on the likely operation in border areas close to Afghanistan was yet to be known, as in case dollars inflow dries up and turns into outflow, the local participants were not likely to resist the float.

Out of total 444 actives, 288 stocks declined, 137 stocks advanced, while the value of remaining 19 stocks remained unchanged.

Highest volumes were witnessed in JS Company at 28.87 million closing at Rs39.10 with a gain of 75 paisa, followed AH Securities at 15.83 million closing at Rs45.86 with a gain of Rs2.18, Bank Al-Falah at 8.24 million closing at Rs13.98 with a loss of 42 paisa, Nishat Mills at 7.97 million closing at Rs60.54 with a loss of Rs1.85, and Pakistan Telecommunication Company at 4.94 million closing at Rs20.11 with a loss of 28 paisa.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Lahore stock market lost 39 points to close at 2,949 amid a sharply reduced volume as small investors stayed away.

Out of 117 active shares, prices of 20 increased, 55 fell and 42 stood unchanged. Trading volume dropped drastically to 12.2 million shares from an average of over 25 million last week. Bank Alfalah was again the volume leader with trading in 2.65 million shares. Five of top 10 volume leaders were commercial banks, but all of them closed the day lower.

The market remained volatile during the first two hours of trading before embarking on a clear declining path. It recovered a little in the last half hour.

The banking sector was dominated by bears. All big banks lost value and only four small banks could escape losses. Trading in the insurance sector was mixed. Sugar mills were in the firm grip of bears. Only one mill was in the positive zone but could achieve a small gain of Rs0.02. Cement units were mostly under pressure.

All three refineries fell while there was only gainer in the oil and gas marketing sector. The oil and gas exploration sector also saw losses. One fertiliser company among four traded during the day moved up.

Similarly, all pharmaceutical companies except for one closed down. Millat Tractor was the major gainer, rising Rs22.16 to close at Rs474. Mari Gas was the major loser, falling Rs16.56 to Rs314.74.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Tuesday witnessed bearish trends owing to the hardships in the new system of margin in the market.

The benchmark 100-index closed at 9686 up 44 points.

The stock market opened in positive territory with an addition of 56 points to the index; however, due to technical problems in the new system of financing, the investors faced hardships, thus, the stock market, despite being bullish, could not register it through trade volume.

Meantime, the brokers voiced their reservations on the new system of margin. While, KSE management said the new system is well afoot.

Today, the market registered the trade volume of 118.6 million shares, led by Arib Habib Securities, which closed at Rs48.6 up Rs2.20.

According to analysts, if the irregularities are removed from the new margin system, a new positive wave can provide a spur to the trade activity.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Lahore Stock Market stayed volatile and the LSE 25-index managed to close at 2,964 points with a 15 points gain after a seesaw session on Tuesday with low trading volumes.

Out of 123 active shares gainers led losers 41 to 37 while 45 closed unchanged. Arif Habib Securities Limited with a turnover of 2.9 million shares replaced Bank Alfalah as volume leader. Eight of the top ten volume leaders recorded turnover of less than one million shares. Five of the top ten volume leaders gained value and five lost.

The banking sector depicted mixed trend but the trading was lacklustre. Most of the larger banks lost value though the declines were nominal. The gainers in Insurance and Cement sectors out numbered the losers. Two refineries ended the day on positive note and two on negative. Only two Oil and Gas Marketing Companies lost value while the rest closed positive. In the oil and gas exploration sector the rapidly increasing Mari Gas Company under went correction of over Rs4 per share. The rest of the companies in this sector were among the gainers.

Similarly Dawood Hercules was the lone loser in the fertilizer sector as it shed Rs4.58 per share to close at Rs206.12. The remaining three companies in this sector closed on positive note. Atlas Battery Limited with a gain of Rs7.90 was the major gainer while Mari Gas Company was the major loser.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

Islamabad Stock Exchange witnessed bullish trends here on Tuesday, as the ISE-10 index was up by 7.03 points to close at 2,261.21 in today's trading. A total of 711,932 shares were traded, which were down by 119,022 shares when compared with previous day's trading of 830,954 shares. Out of 162 share prices of 91 companies recorded increase, share prices of 71 companies registered decrease, while that no company remained stable.The share prices of Unilever Pakistan increased by Rs. 54.31 while share prices of Sapphire Fibers dipped by Rs. 5.38. Arif Habib Securities, National Bank and Adamjee Insurance remained the top trading companies in Tuesday's trading with 186,075, 56,144 and 55,498 shares respectively.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The softening of rules in Client Level Margining System (CLMS) with the first release of pledged exposures invited notable buying at the Karachi bourse on Wednesday.

The KSE 100-share Index increased by another 118.21 points or 1.22 per cent and closed at 9,804.61 points. The parallel running junior 30-Index gained 144.94 points or 1.40 per cent and ended at 10,463.53 points

Analysts said that the increase in number of securities acceptable as exposure in CLMS relaxed market participants, as it enhanced their capacity to play in the market. Moreover, it was also the first day of release of exposures, which they had submitted with KSE to buy stocks on Monday (the launching day of CLMS).

“So that a cycle of exposure submission and release has restored the investment scenario back to normal from this session,” they added.

According to Shahzad Chamdia Securities the intense buying was witnessed in market ahead of September result announcements where relaxation in client level exposure rules kept maintaining buying momentum throughout the session.

The improving of international oil prices above $74.5 per barrel on weak dollar and higher oil demand kept investors bullish. While the announcement by Pak Oilfields on increase in production in Tal Block, higher DAP sales for fertilizer sector and higher expectation from discussion on fourth tranche of IMF assistance to Pakistan next month altogether played a catalyst role in positive activity at KSE, the brokerage house added.

The buying euphoria was, therefore, noted on across the board under the lead of securities-cum-investment companies, oil & gas exploration & production companies, telecommunication and the fertilizer stocks. Banks, textile, chemical, insurance, oil marketing companies and refineries followed the day volume leaders in positive column.

Also, relaxation in CLMS rules resulted in increasing the day turnover by approximately 87 per cent to 220.56 million shares against 118.13 million shares changed hands yesterday.

Turnover in future market also surged by 100 per cent to 1.85 million shares as compared to 901 thousand shares traded a day earlier.

Accordingly, the overall market capitalisation soared by Rs34 billion and stood at Rs2,845 billion.

In this session, overseas investors, local fund managers and individual investors appeared as net buyer of shares worth $0.4 million, $4.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively. Local companies offloaded shares worth $6 million.

Out of total 429 actives, 273 stocks advanced, 136 stocks declined, while the value of remaining 20 stocks remained unchanged.

Highest volumes were witnessed in JS Company at 42.71 million closing at Rs40.81 with a gain of Rs1.62, followed AH Securities at 22.53 million closing at Rs48.27 with a gain of 21 paisa, Pak Oilfields at 9.42 million closing at Rs225.28 with a gain of Rs8.57, Pakistan Telecommunication Company at 8.63 million closing at Rs20.81 with a loss of 43 paisa, and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim at 7.38 million closing at Rs26.81 with a gain of Rs1.27.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Lahore stock market extended its bull run for the second consecutive day on Wednesday and added 40 points to its 25-share index, closing above 3,005 points. Trading was thin, but slightly better than the volume a day earlier.

Active issues totalled 129, of which 64 were up, 14 went down and 51 remained unchanged. Arif Habib Securities was the volume leader with trading in 3.9 million shares. After a very long time, all top 10 volume leaders were among gainers.

Shell Pakistan was the major gainer as it rose Rs13 to close at Rs273.08. Other major gainers were Indus Motor, which rose Rs9.74, Pakistan Oil Fields up Rs9.22, ICI Pakistan up Rs8.90 and Pakistan State Oil up Rs8.50.

Habib Bank was the major loser with a decline of Rs2.33 to close at Rs132.75. Four commercial banks were among top 10 losers of the day.

Mutual funds and modarabas performed better after a long time as most of the companies recorded gains. The trend in the banking sector was mixed but except for Habib Bank all bigger ones showed a rise.

MCB was the major gainer in the banking sector, adding Rs4.72 to its share value and closed at Rs231.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Islamabad stock market witnessed a bullish trading session on Wednesday as the ISE 10-share index was up by 32 points to close at 2,293.21 points from its previous level of 2,261.21 points. Of the total 165 participant companies, 108 climbed upward and 57 turned negative. Total turnover increased to 1.259 million shares from 0.711 million shares at the opening of the day, showing a total increase of 0.547 million shares. Siemens Engineering was the top gainer as its share value shot up by Rs 19 to close at Rs 1,419 after opening at Rs 1,400. Pakistan State Oil was the second major gainer as its share value increased by Rs 11.65 to close at Rs 349.40 as against its opening at Rs 332.75. Unilever Pakistan was the major loser of the day as its share price declined by Rs 27.16 to close at Rs 2,253 as compared to its previous level of Rs 2,280.16. In terms of volume Arif Habib Securities remained on top with 0.306 million shares. National Bank and Adamjee Insurance remained second and third with 0.127 million shares and 0.080 million shares, respectively.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The benchmark KSE-100 Index of Karachi Stock Exchange Thursday gained 41 points to close at 9,846.

The major Index was on its way to hit 10,000 level today but today’s terrorists activities in Lahore and Kohat slowed down its march ahead.

Today’s trade began in green zone with Index up 49 points and positive expectations of financial results pushed it by 132 points to 9,936 level. However, the deadly acts of terror in Lahore and Kohat pulled it back, leaving the Index with 41 points.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Lahore stock market continued its upward drive on Thursday as the LSE 25-share index rose 21.28 points to close at 3,026.51.

In the morning, the trading started on a positive note but the market moved both ways during the day. Investors resorted to some profit-taking while taking fresh positions.

The investors also expressed fears after terrorism incidents at three different places in Lahore.

Overall shares of 121 companies were traded, of which 24 rose, 52 fell and 45 remained unchanged.

Total trading volume was 15.086 million shares, led by Arif Habib Securities in which 1.756 million shares changed hands.

Pak Petroleum, IGI Insurance, FFC, OGDCL, Pak Oilfields, Engro Chemical, Highnoon Laboratories, Engro Polymer and Chemical, Silver Star Insurance and Century Paper were major gainers of the day.

ICI Pakistan, Mari Gas Company, EFU General Insurance, MCB, PSO, Adamjee Insurance, HBL, Arif Habib Securities, UBL and ABL were the major losers.

[Ahmad Rashid Ahmad]

The Islamabad stock market closed in the positive territory on Thursday as investors went for buying activities. The ISE 10-share index was up by 37.69 points to close at 2,330.90 points from its previous level of 2,293.21 points. Of the total 156 participant companies, 60 climbed upward and 96 turned negative. However, the total turnover decreased to 1.238 million shares from 1.259 million shares at the opening of the day, reflecting a total decrease of 0.020 million shares. Sapphir Fibres was the top gainer as its share value shot up by Rs 7.14 to close at Rs 149.94 from its opening at Rs 142.80. Sanofi Aventis Pakistan was the second major gainer as its share value increased by Rs 6 to close at Rs.204.50 after opening at Rs 198.50. Sitara Chemicals was the major loser of the day as its share price declined by Rs 6.42 to close at Rs 192 as compared to its previous level of Rs 198.42. Tri-Pack Films was the second highest on the negative column as its share price lost Rs 6.04 to close at Rs 132.64 as compared with its opening at Rs 138.68. In terms of volume Arif Habib Securities was on top with 0.306 million shares.