Bulls again defeated bears at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) on the last day of the trading week as the benchmark-100 index gained 16.85 points to close at 18,631.21 points against 18,614.36 points Thursday. Commenting on the market performance, Khalid Usmani, an analyst at JS Global said the market witnessed profit-taking after intraday high of 18,780 (up 165 points), however, it closed only marginally in green as the speculators preferred to square their positions ahead of a weekend filled with political uncertainties.
He said Engro Foods was the star performer adding 14.6 points to the index after rumours of it acquiring a local retail meat chain circulated in the market. "Continued foreign interest pushed NBP to volume leader status for the day with 18.9mn shares, closing up 1.7 percent. Engro Corp received some selling pressure after rumours that the gas which they received on rotational basis has been disconnected again, however the news has not been confirmed by the management," he said.
Following the positive trend on Friday, market capitalisation witnessed uptrend and with an increase of Rs 8.91 billion, it closed at Rs 4.555 trillion from Rs 4.546 trillion. The trading side also remained in green-phase. The turnover closed at 159.346 million against 147.440 million shares.
Out of total 348 active scrips, 177 remained positive, 151 negative and that of 20 remained unchanged. Unilever Food XD and Wyeth Pak Ltd XD were the top gainers with share prices increasing by Rs 68.00 and Rs 63.32 to close at Rs 4400.00 and Rs 1329.82, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Indus Dyeing were the top losers, with share prices decreasing by Rs 52.00 and Rs 10.00 to close at Rs 3850.00 and Rs 380.00, respectively.
Seven companies available in "Top Ten" chart made gains while the rest shed weight. National Bank XDXB succeeded to gain the position of "Volume Leader." With an increase of 73 paisa, it closed at Rs 41.77 with a turnover of some 18.86 million shares. Engro Polymer also gained 31 paisa to close at Rs 11.77 on some 14.20 million shares. Engro Corporation remained under pressure, shedding 88 paisa to close at Rs 137.45 with some 12.47 million shares.
Maple Leaf Cement also remained in negative zone. With a decrease of 51 paisa, it closed at Rs 18.64 on some 8.52 million shares. Lotte PakPTA bagged 23 paisa to close at Rs 7.31 on some 7.46 million shares. Quice Food gained Re1 to close at Rs 9.94 on some 7.33 million shares.
Jahangir Siddiqui Company XD closed at Rs 12.12 on an increase of 25 paisa with a turnover at 7.32 million shares. PTCLA shed 53 paisa to close at Rs 18.08 on some 6.88 million shares. PIAC (A) gained 45 paisa to close at Rs 6.72 on some 5.75 million shares. The last one among the Top Ten was Engro Foods Ltd which witnessed a good jump of Rs 6.92 to close at Rs 145.40. The turnover stood at some 5.33 million shares.