KSE index breaks 6900 level

The stock market for the second consecutive session recorded handsome gains despite the fact that the State Bank of Pakistan raised the cut-off yield on six month treasury bills on Wednesday. The KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 80.60 points, or 1.17 percent, to 6949.88 as compared with 6869.28. The volume rose to 562 million shares as against 554 million shares.
The share market opened on dull note, but the buying spree from the all corner ignited the share prices, and the rally staged in the banking, telecom and gas sectors. Telecom and gas sectors recorded gains on back of fundamentals changes, and reports that PTCL has installed more than 50,000 lines in the country. While gas scrips especially the OGDC showed tremendous gain, rising by Rs 1.70 helped the index comfortably breach the 6900 level.
Banking scrips were up as investors healthy profit numbers from the lenders. The banks would start releasing their full year account by next month. Moreover, continuous rising interest rates to help boost the earnings of the bank sector. Investors mostly took the rise in six-month treasury bills as a positive measure which could increase the earnings of the financial institutions.
An analyst from Elixir Securities, said that the day started off with the oil stocks gaining on the back of the oil price increase with PSO, POL, OGDC and PPL marching upwards. OGDC gained 2 percent on a volume of 112 million shares giving the index an early boost after which PTCl rallied in the later half of the day to hit an intra-day high of Rs 64.15. Initial selling-pressure had pushed the telecom giant to a day's low of Rs 61.2 after which it jumped into activity on strong buying at the lower levels rallying upwards to its intra-day high.
The banking sector was also swarming with activity as it was MCB's turn to lead the sector after profit-taking eroded some of Tuesday's gains in NBP and ACBL. The MCB gained 5.9 percent to close at Rs 73.8 after making an intra-day high of Rs 74.8, it narrowly missed its upper cap of Rs 74.9. Both the NBP and the ACBL closed lower on profit-taking as they ended the day at Rs 101.4 and Rs 106.65, respectively.
Tariq Hussain Khan, from Atlas Investment Bank, said despite an increase of 54 basis points in six-month T-bills yield, the market ended at a strong note as investors built positions in blue chip stocks at every level.
The increase in domestic oil prices coupled with positive sentiments derived from the huge credit disbursement to farmers were the major contributing factors as institutional investors entered the rings with an aggressive buying strategy, he added.
The market's heavyweight, OGDCL, remained on the rise, which pushed the market up during the day.
Gainers outnumbered losers as 191 stocks gained, while 165 companies remained negative towards the end.
Ahmed Ashraf Sheikh from Akbarally Cassim, said the badla increased by 430 million rupees, as there was major badla increase in DG Khan Cement by 10 percent as weak-holders expect the cement sector in general and the company in particular to perform in the next few days. The badla in Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim reduced by 7 percent as weak-holders continue to offload their holdings, he added.
PTCL gained Rs 1.05 to Rs 63.25 on a turnover of 126 million shares, PGDC moved up to Rs 84.30 from Rs 82.60 on a trading of 112 million shares, MCB closed at Rs 73.80, ie higher by Rs 4.10 on a volume of 57 million shares, National Bank of Pakistan dropped by Rs 1.60 to Rs 101.40 on deals of 31 million shares, DG Khan Cement suffered a decline of 85 paisa to Rs 59.15 on a transaction of 29 million shares.