Bullish trend continued at the Karachi share market last week ended on April 5, 2008 and KSE-100 attained new high level of 15,472.45 points with a gain of 204.23 points, or 1.3 percent, on the back of strong interest of local institutions and retail investors due to political stability and improved law and order situation in the country.
On the other hand, the parallel free float market capitalisation based KSE-30 index surged by 155.66 points and settled at 18,859.86 points level.
Trading improved during the week and average daily volume of ready market increased by 23 percent to 286.050 million shares as compared to 233.089 million shares of previous week.
The average daily turnover of futures market, however, declined by 35 percent on weekly basis and stood at 58.210 million against 89.833 million shares previously.
Market capitalisation surged by Rs 70 billion to reach Rs 4.736 trillion. The market witnessed pressure on Monday due to the news that 'KSE March crash inquiry would be reopened and debated in the National Assembly, which caused panic selling and the KSE-100 index lost 142.93 points to close at 15,125.29 points. The KSE-30 index declined by 266.06 points to 18,438.14 points.
On Tuesday, the market started under pressure. However, late buying, mainly in banking and fertiliser sectors, supported the KSE-100 index to recover its intra-day losses and closed in positive at 15,209.86 points level with a gain of 84.57 points. The KSE-30 index also surged by 131.87 points to settle at 18,570.01 points level.
On Wednesday, the share market witnessed healthy buying and the KSE-100 index closed at new level of 15,332.91 points with a gain of 123.05 points on the back of political stability and positive trend in the international markets. The KSE-30 index increased by 111.30 points to close at it all time high level of 18,681.31 points.
On Thursday, the market continued its upward trend, setting new record as the KSE-100 index closed at 15,345.32 points, though with marginal gain of 12.41 points. The KSE-30 index rose by 3.43 points to close at 18,684.74 points level.
On Friday, bullish trend continued at the share market and KSE-100 index closed at the level of 15,472.45 points, with a gain of 127.13 points, after crossing 15,500 points mark and hitting 15,517.87 points intra-day high level. The KSE-30 index surged by 175.12 points to 18,859.86 points level.
Farhan Mahmood, an analyst at JS Global Capital, said that despite selling by foreign investors, local institutions and retail investors supported the market. Smooth transition of new cabinet and better law and order situation ensured that the market would remain less volatile during the week. "Despite political chaos in the local arena, turbulence in the international stock markets amid US sup-prime crisis and persistent fears of global recession, KSE-100 index remained a star performer so far in 2008," he added.
The KSE-100 in 2008 so far has risen by 10 percent which is far better than MSCI EM Index which during the same period declined by 8 percent. Cements, on the back of record dispatches in March 2008, and fertiliser, on account of higher international DAP prices, captured the top slot during the week as they went up by 5.1 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. Interest in banking remained low mainly due to low foreign interest while OMCs under-performed during the week, he said.