Bulls fought a hard battle to stage a comeback on Monday at Karachi Stock Exchange as several punters resorted to profit taking which resulted in some trimming of share prices in the banking, cement and gas sectors.
The KSE-100 index rose 27.84 points, or 0.30 percent, to 9459.65 from 9431.81 of last Friday. The volume rose to 394 million shares against 382 million shares.
The market opened on a positive note but selling pressure in some of the banking and cement shares pushed the index into the negative territory. But some of the scrips, including Fauji Cement, registered a sharp increase, which helped the KSE-100 index to close in the positive zone.
The share price of Fauji Cement was up on the development that Fauji Foundation has planned to sell 52 percent stakes in the company and has invited bids from local as well as overseas investors. The last date is January 10 and the paid up capital of the company is little over Rs 4 billion.
Selling was witnessed in some of the banking and oil scrips as several punters believed that during the recent surge, share prices have soared sharply and trading above their fair value and correction was due. "Intra-day correction is a healthy sign and the investors, especially the retail ones, should adopt a wait and see approach till such time as the index is on a steady path", a leading investor said.
Tariq Hussain Khan, research analyst at Atlas Investment Bank, said that the market once again failed to touch its very important level despite a positive start where the cement sector remained in the limelight.
At one point, the market had slipped into the red and touched an intra-day low of 9371.58. Later, heavyweights like PTCL and OGDC pulled the market up. PTCL registered an increase of Rs 1.20 to Rs 64.80, helping the market to gain 18 points during the session.
Banking and oil sectors were the major losers as investors preferred to reduce their positions due to fluctuation in international oil prices.
Power sector stocks also dropped significantly with heavy volumes as both Hubco and Kapco closed in negative zone.
Hasnain Asghar from Aziz Fidahusein said that institutional offloading in the fertiliser and the main banking stocks left no choice for the jobbers but to sell on the available rates. Positive news regarding PTCL sell-off deal with confirmation regarding management transfer, update on implementation of cash settled futures and settlement of financing issues may, however, allow the index to avoid any major adjustment.
Technically, the index would find support around 9270-9277 while overhead resistance stays at 9487-9496. It is, therefore, recommended to focus on fundamentally strong stocks for both trading and placements. Low volume surge should, however, be capitalised.
Fauji Cement gained Rs 1.30 to Rs 28.25 on a volume of 65 million shares. PTCL gained Rs 1.20 to Rs 64.80 on trading of 30 million shares. PIAC climbed Re 1 to Rs 11.85 on transactions of 29 million shares; Lucky Cement closed at Rs 80.85, ie higher by 90 paisa, to Rs 80.85 on turnover of 24 million shares; and Bank of Punjab remained unchanged at Rs 104.70 on business of 15 million shares.