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KSE Index breaks 2,000 barrier

RECORDER REVIEW

KARACHI: The KSE-100 index broke the 2,000 level barrier as fresh buying spree emerged on the stock market, improving the value of pivotals under the lead of ICI, PTCL and Dewan Salman Fibres.

The market activity was curtailed to four sessions on account of Eid-ul-Azha observed on Friday. This put a cap on the upward movement in the stock values but still some of the speculators and bargain hunters executed long-term commitments, forcing the index to breach the 2,000 mark.

The optimism at the last session of the week was running high as the carry over charges of most of the scrips remained range-bound, indicating that the market has been eased and entered into the oversold zone.

One of the most stabilising factor for the market punters was the report that the International Monetary Fund is keen to increase the sum of funds expected to be released by end of this month or early April. Already the stalled funds under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility worth $1.56 billion have been converted into the Poverty Growth Alleviation Fund. The IMF is expected to increase the funding to around $2 billion. A mission from the donor agency is expected to arrive soon and the economic managers believe that Pakistan will get additional funding to ease up the economy.

The market on Thursday scored big as President Bill Clinton has finalised its visit to South Asia. He will visit Pakistan on March 25. Before that he would be travelling to India and Bangladesh. Traders expressed hope that President Bill Clinton might ease some of the sanctions imposed on Pakistan following the nuclear test conducted in May 1998.

The Karachi Stock Exchange 100 index recorded a rise of 64.99 points to 2,001.97 from 1,936.98 of the previous week. The volume during the week amounted to 909.182 million shares as against 1.382 billion shares of the preceding week.

The index is likely to gain more weight this week and the next target according to a dealer is 2,075, if it breaches there is a possibility that it would soon cross the 2,100 mark. The badla rates were moderate last week, indicating that there were no significant weak holdings.

PTCL was up sharply during the week on the reports that the government might retrench some of the employees. However, the company denied this report but analysts said that the number of employees hired per line is higher as compared to regional markets. If retrenched in future, the profitability of the telecom will improve.

ICI on a turnover of 306.939 million shares denoted an increase of Rs 3.25 to Rs 19.10, PTCL on a business of 201.789 million shares recorded a rise of 75 paisa to Rs 33.65. Hubco on a trading of 100.854 million shares moved up to Rs 28.40 from Rs 28.15. FFC Jordan on a volume of 68.022 million shares closed at Rs 15.70, indicating a net improvement of Rs 2.70 and Dewan Salman Fibres closed at Rs 37.60, higher by Rs 3.75, as around 31.327 million shares changed hands.