Stock market inches up

The share market here witnessed a range bound session on Friday, but managed to close in the positive zone with the KSE-100 index gaining 20.73 points, closing at 12,367.62 points level, despite uncertainty on political front. The KSE-30 index closed at 15,363.38 points level, with a gain of 58.96 points.
Trading was dull and the ready market volume declined to 219.929 million shares as compared to 251.996 million shares traded a day earlier. The futures market turnover also decreased to 46.537 million shares against 56.086 million shares changed hands on Thursday.
The start of the market was negative. However, buying in select stocks supported the index to recover losses and, at one time, the index hit 12,414.22 points intra-day high. The investors remained cautious and opted profit taking on available margins which took the index down at 12,300.77 points intra-day low level.
The overall market capitalisation, however, increased by Rs 7 billion to Rs 3.601 trillion. CFS value increased to Rs 53.61 billion as compared to Thursday''s Rs 52.95 billion. Trading took place in 350 scrips, of which 166 scrips closed in positive column and 140 scrips closed in negative column while the value of 44 scrips remained unchanged.
Fauji Fertiliser was the star performer of the day with 32.263 million shares and surged by Rs 1.55 to close at Rs 36.35 followed by BoP, which gained Rs 1.20 to close at Rs 105.00 with a total volume of 11.195 million shares. JS Bank increased to Rs 0.55 to close at Rs 14.35.
In E&P sector, POL surged by Rs 4.85 to close at Rs 341.60 however OGDC lost Rs 0.30 to close at Rs 118.85. Nishat Mills performed well and gained Rs 1.00 to close at Rs 129.00. Picic gained Rs 2.20 to close at Rs 69.95 while Arif Habib increased by Rs 4.00 to close at Rs 300.00.
In the other top ten volume leaders, Hub Power gained Rs 0.30 to close at Rs 33.30 however DG Khan Cement lost Rs 0.70 to close at Rs 101.00. Siemens Engineering and Shell Pakistan were the highest gainers which gained Rs 70.00 and Rs 19.30 to close at Rs 1560.00 and Rs 405.30 respectively, while Pak Refinery and Murree Brewery were the highest losers which lost Rs 6.90 and Rs 5.80 to close at Rs 235.00 and Rs 111.20 respectively.
Atif Malik, analyst at Jahangir Siddiqui Securities, said that the investors opted cautious stance due to political uncertainty in the city and avoided taking fresh positions. The rumours that emergency could be imposed in the country led to profit taking on available margins which downed the index in negative territory. However, the index managed to close in positive on the last traded day of the week with a fresh gain of 20.73 points. The market remained range-bound with thin volumes as compared to a day earlier.