The market players were quite cautious during the previous week because of extended bearish spell but downward slide enticed the investors helping the index to close on a positive note.
The KSE-100 index rose 98.76 points or 1.8 percent to 5529.19 at the close of the last week.
Analysts were of the view that the market is likely to move in the positive territory this week, and might touch 5,600 points level, but due to law and order situation, the index volatility and cautious approach might restrict any major gains.
The killing of 15 people and injuring nearly 100 on weekend would perturb the investors' mood.
A shortage of news flow from both the corporate and the political front is likely to keep the index range-bound during the coming week. One wildcard that can have a strong impact on the market is the arrival of PML(N) chief Shahbaz Sharif in the country.
The plethora of rumours regarding the actions that will be taken by the government after his arrival have created confusion among investors. Thus, once this matter is sorted out, market participants will have an opportunity to take a solid stance on the issue, be it positive or negative.
The index on Tuesday shot up by 95 points with PTC and OGDC both contributing nearly 16 points each. Banks took the lead with lots of tips floating around in National Bank, Bank of Punjab and many other smaller banks.
Hubco on Wednesday from the word go on rumours of (i) National Power selling its stake once again and (ii) generator breakdown suffered substantial losses and seasoned investors and financial institutions were on the selling side.
But experts were of the opinion that Hubco has now become an attractive buy with the yield in excess of 10 percent. Even if there has been generator breakdown the worst case scenario would be an impact of two paisa per share.
The market was dull on Thursday where even news of double-digit growth in cement demand, rising by 16 percent in first 10 months failed to spark the cement stocks.
Sumaira Dada, research analyst from Elixir Securities, said this development news was already factored in the share prices and majority of the market players are sellers at these levels.
Both PSO and Pakistan Oilfields are massively under-performing and it seems if there was a fall in the index from these levels, which we think would come, they would be the first to go down, she said, adding PSO will be going spot (T+1) in the first week of June for 30 percent cash announced in the third quarter which would further kill punters' interest in the stock.
The hyperactivity persists in Bank Al-Falah, and it went limit up to close at Rs 65.50 with volumes of 22 million shares. Since the National Bank and the MCB have played their innings, and are no more in the limelight, punters interest is gaining momentum in the Faysal Bank and the Askari Bank, but we expect the Askari Bank to outperform and yield decent returns to investors who have patience.
A bomb blast where death toll is currently 15 did hamper market activity. Across the board, the stock prices came under pressure with the exception of Pakistan Oilfields, Lucky Cement and Bank Al-Falah.