The Karachi share market remained firm on Thursday supported by higher trades ahead of Eid holidays. The benchmark KSE-100 index inched up by 9.32 points to close at 30,474.75 points. Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corporation, said socks closed flat amid higher trades ahead of holidays this weekend. Sentiments remained positive on major earnings due after Eid-ul-Fitr.
Bestway Cement 76 percent acquisition of Lafarge Cement, rising textile sector exports data following EU grant on GSP Plus status and speculations in oil sector in corporate earnings season played a catalyst role in the bullish sentiment at KSE despite below expected earnings of Fauji Fertilizer on low urea sales announced today impacting the sector outlook, he maintained. During the intra-day trading, the index reached 30,638.57 points highest and 30,394.30 points lowest level. Following a bullish trend, volume at the ready counter moved up to 218.186 million shares compared to 131.080 million shares Wednesday. Market capitalisation climbed by Rs 17 billion to Rs 7.153 trillion against Rs 7.136 trillion a day earlier.
Trading took place in 326 companies, of which 116 closed in green zone, 188 in red while 22 landed in blue zone. Rabab Khan, an analyst at Aba Ali Habib Securities, said the local bourse witnessed mixed sentiments over the day. Most of the investors were cautious due to long holidays. While trading activity was witnessed in cement on the deal of Lafarge by Bestway Group.
Profit-taking was followed by low performance on the stocks. Construction and materials were followed by commercial banks and chemical increasing by 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively, she added. Among top 10 volume leaders, 4 companies recorded a positive trend, 5 recorded negative trend and one remained unchanged. Lafarge Pak emerged volume leader with 58.68 million shares, up Re 0.21 to close at Rs 16.73. Maple Leaf Cement stood second, up Rs 1.24 to close at Rs 32.14 on 32.24 million shares. Fauji Cement lost Re 0.1 to close at Rs 20.85 on 14.48 million shares.
D.G.K. Cement shed Re 0.43 to close at Rs 88.78 on 12.60 million shares. With 6.21 million shares, B.O.Punjab remained unchanged to close at Rs 9.18. K-Electric Ltd fell by Re 0.16 to close at Rs 7.31 on 5.58 million shares. Cherat Cement gained Rs 3.2 to close at Rs 88.49 on 5.24 million shares Pak Int. Bulk dropped by Re 0.58 to close at Rs 24.77 on 4.24 million shares. With a trading volume of 3.62 million shares, Lucky Cement closed at Rs 411.98, down Rs 10.18. Ghani Automobile gained Re 0.15 to close at Rs 5.05 on 3.25 million shares. Pak Tobacco and Exide (Pak) were the top gainers with Rs 54.98 and Rs 24.87 to close at Rs 1,154.99 and Rs 522.32, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Bata (Pak) were the top losers with Rs 50.00 and Rs 43.40 to close at Rs 11,250.00 and Rs 3,472.00, respectively.