Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) surges on offshorers

Equities at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) ended higher on first day of the week mainly due to foreign investors' participation and buying in banking stocks however turnovers remained low due to ongoing political turmoil.

The benchmark KSE 100-Index surged by 0.54 per cent or 49.87 points to close at 9,233.60, KSE 30-Index jumped by 0.54 per cent or 52.51 points to end at 9,705.41, while KSE All Share Index gained value by 0.52 per cent or 34.15 points to finish at 6,554.40 levels.

The day started on a positive note with a gain of 25 points; positive activities then managed to continue as buying continued mainly in the banking stocks however volumes were low as investors were reluctant to take positions due to the ongoing political chaos. Therefore after remaining in green zone during first two hours market witnessed some profit-taking. As a result index then showed some mixed activities for a couple of hours moving in both territories where at one moment it touched an intra-day low of 9,172 points (-ve 11 points). However renewed buying activity at lower levels allowed the bulls to take a comeback and market once again managed to stay in positive where at about 1507 PST it hit the highest level of the day of 9,241 points (+ve 58 points) and finally closed in the green zone.

Some improved activities witnessed by the foreign investors where according to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) figures, there was a net foreign buying of $3.6 million Monday.

He said that LOC unit holders of NIT including NBP and FABL led the rally in banking sector on capital gain expectations. Rise in international oil prices, strong valuations & institutional support in blue chips played a catalyst role in positive activity at the KSE, he added.

Investor participation was depressed throughout the day as 78.7 million shares were traded in the overall market which is 18 million shares less as compared to a turnover of 96.8 million shares Friday. Out of total 400 active issues, 202 advanced and 173 declined while 25 issues remained unchanged.