Renewed buying spree was witnessed on Karachi share market on Tuesday, led by cement and banking sectors, as a result of which the KSE-100 index surged by 57.89 points, closing at a new high level of 13,326.17 points. On the other hand, the KSE-30 index gained 60.29 points and closed at another high level of 16,830.54 points.
The start of the market was positive and the KSE-100 index hit the 13,390.34 points intra-day high, which was the highest level attained by KSE in its history so far.
There was heavy trading activity and the ready market volume increased to 336.637 million shares from 291.385 million shares traded a day earlier. The futures market turnover increased to 63.217 million shares against 59.111 million shares.
Market capitalisation surged by Rs 25 billion to Rs 3.869 trillion, while CFS value increased to Rs 54.64 billion against Monday's Rs 54.62 billion. Trading took place in 401 scrips. Out of these, 223 closed in positive column and 135 in negative column, while the value of 43 scrips remained unchanged.
DG Khan Cement was the star performer of the day with 51.629 million shares and surged by Rs 1.80 to close at Rs 120.00. It was followed by Lucky Cement, which gained Rs 5.70 to close at Rs 121.90 with a volume of 41.786 million shares. Fauji Cement and Pakistan Cement increased by Rs 0.40 and Rs 0.45 to close at Rs 19.60 and Rs 15.20 respectively.
Buying was also seen in banking sector and BoP and JS Bank gained Rs 0.95 and Rs 0.40 to close at Rs 112.60 and Rs 18.95 respectively. However, Bank Al Falah closed at Rs 56.15, down by Rs 0.10. TRG performed well as it surged by Rs 0.60 to close at Rs 13.05 with a turnover of 30.189 million shares. Arif Habib Sec also remained active and gained Rs 5.40 to close at Rs 113.85. Fauji Fertiliser lost Rs 0.15 to close at Rs 37.10 due to profit taking in fertiliser sector.
Rafhan Maize and Unilever were the highest gainers which gained Rs 114.00 and Rs 19.00 to close at Rs 2394.00 and Rs 2252.00 respectively, while Nestle Pakistan and Grays of Camb were the highest losers which lost Rs 49.00 and Rs 11.50 to close at Rs 1500.00 and Rs 230.00 respectively.
Ahsan Mehanti at Shehzad Chamdia Securities said that a huge amount of Rs 520 billion for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) announced by government in the budget 2007-08 invited fresh buying especially in cement stocks as the investors were expecting growth in this sector after initiating construction of new dams and infrastructure in the country.
The announcement of the date for PSO's privatisation also invited buying in the scrip. However, the scrip witnessed profit taking in late hours and finally closed in negative column.
Foreign interest was seen especially in banking and cement sectors and both sectors performed well. The foreign investment in the equity market is increasing and SCRA balances have reached a record level of $897 million.
The investors opted to offload their holdings in the oil-related stocks, despite increase in oil prices in the international market and many of oil sector stocks closed in negative. The fertiliser sector also witnessed selling pressure during the session.