KARACHI (January 01 2003) : Equities marched upward and the KSE-100 index for the first time crossed the 2700 mark while volume made another record when 689 million shares changed hands on Tuesday, led by Hubco, ICI and FFC Jordan.
The KSE-100 index showed an increment of 7.56 points, or 0.28 percent, 2,701.42 from 2,693.86.
The volume recorded a new high at 689.315 million shares from 461.043 million shares, surpassing previous week's best of 617 million shares.
The stock exchange from the word 'go' was in the positive column and showed new strides.
The index recorded an increment of as much as 62 points but profit taking from the financial institutions because of the year-end closing erased the share values.
The index closed on a positive note and the motivating factor for the market men was that the number of companies called at the ready board had increased which denoted that the buying had spread to second-tier stocks.
Most of the activity in the market emerged in the companies which have strong fundamentals, meaning that the companies are either restructuring their loans, expanding their services, boosting their sales team and signing new agreements to increase their sales.
The market is likely to sustain these levels as the upcoming months appear to bullish following the continuous flow of remittances from expatriates, positive numbers released by the government and the central bank.
The central bank released its first quarter report and pointed towards potential for strong growth.
However, the Bank has at the same time warned against adopting populist policies by the political government.
According to the report, agriculture sector has been identified as the key stimulant to the projected 4.5 percent GDP growth on the back of improved water availability in the country.
An analyst said that the major reason behind the flow of funds towards the equity market was high yields offered by most of the blue chip scrips listed at the KSE.
Besides, previous avenues of the investments like dollar, gold and other fixed income securities that were offering high yield now have become unattractive.
Raheel Moosani of Moosani Securities said that throughout the day bulls remained in complete control as PSO and Hubco provided the colossal rally that eventually assisted index to finger all-time high of 2,747.90 level.
Institutional buying in the blue chip stocks plus investment in sideboard stocks helped market to climb high.
Selling brought jitters among jobbers and retail investors as they offloaded their holdings in a knee-jerk reaction that turned the entire market tune.
The market, however, is ripe for a technical correction, and any further correction at these levels would be extremely beneficial for the market.
Hubco on a turnover of 329.013 million shares showed a rise of Rs 1.70 to Rs 40.10; PTCL closed at Rs 26, lower by 35 paisa on business of 153.709 million shares; PSO moved down to Rs 211.50 from Rs 212 on a volume of 45.206 million shares; ICI denoted a rise Rs 1.85 on trading of 26.027 million shares; and Sui Northern Gas shed 10 paisa to Rs 24.70 on total deals of 23.692 million shares.
