Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Monday witnessed historic high on first day of new week and the benchamark-100 index gained 277.11 points. It breached psychological barrier of 20,800 and closed at 20,814.14 against 20,537.03 Friday. The local bourse opened in green zone and closed on a positive note. The index touched highest level of 20,834.97 points during the intra-day trading.
Commenting on the market performance, Zafar Moti, a senior member KSE and Chairman ZMC Securities told Business Recorder that the local bourse is increasing unexpectedly on the back of institutional buying and foreign fund managers. He said local buyer is not seen anywhere in the market who should participate in trade as things are quite normal on the political front and a new federal government is going to be formed very soon. On Monday, market capitalisation following the trend of historical increase, crossed the level of Rs 5.000 trillion and closed at Rs 5.071 trillion, up by Rs 82.58 billion against Rs 4.989 trillion. The trading side could not sustain higher trend and volume at the ready counter stood at 343.599 million against previous 372.302 million shares.
Out of total 394 active scrips, 224 went up, 149 went down and that of 21 stocks remained unchanged. Bata (Pak) and Unilever Food were the top gainers of the day with share prices increasing by Rs 50.00 and Rs 50.00 to close at Rs 1875.00 and Rs 5150.00, respectively. While two other companies including Shield Corporation and Phillip Morris Pak were the top losers with share prices decreasing by Rs 9.99 and Rs 6.29 to close at Rs 190.00 and Rs 252.01, respectively. Nine companies available in "Top Ten" chart witnessed growth in their share prices while only one lost its worth. Lafarge Pak XD succeeded to gain the position of "Volume Leader" and with an increase of 89 paisa, it closed at Rs 7.97 on a turnover of 37.718 million.
Maple Leaf Cement remained in positive-zone. It gained 75 paisa to close at Rs 21.10 on some 24.821 million shares. Fauji Cement went up by 33 paisa to close at Rs 11.06 on 21.020 million shares. Bank of Punjab which remained volume leader for days lost four paisa to close at Rs 1.71 on 15.018 million shares. Dewan Cement gained 35 paisa to close at Rs 6.41 on 12.456 million shares. Byco Petroleum moved up by 47 paisa to close at Rs 11.22 on 10.092 million shares.
Lotte Chemical witnessed an increase of 13 paisa to close at Rs 7.85 on a turnover of 9.745 million shares. Southern Electric gained 28 paisa to close at Rs 3.26 on 9.304 million shares. Nishat Mills went up by Rs 1.55 to close at Rs 94.96 on 8.561 million shares. The last one among the Top Ten was Japan Power which saw an increase of 21 paisa to close at Rs 3.54 on a turnover of 8.558 million shares.