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KARACHI: The share market on Monday consolidated the previous week's sharp gains and maintained bullish outlook despite stray profit-selling on selected counters amid an actively traded session.
The corporate announcements, notably by the Habib Bank (unconsolidated), cash 40 per cent and bonus shares 10 per cent and 10 per cent cash interim by Pak Datacom indicates higher company earnings during the last year ended Dec 31, 2011.The KSE 100-share index managed to sustain the level well above 12,700 points, what the analysts said, could well prove a takeoff point for its onward thrust possibly after the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) lets the cat of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) out of its bag.
Its final finish was at 12,743.66 points, up 37.14 points as compared to 12,706.52 at the last weekend, indicating that the best level is still to come boosted by higher payouts.
Opinions are still divided over its future direction. Some say the current pace of corporate announcements, notably interim ones could keep it afloat in the coming sessions also.
But some others said it may rise further on the strength of oil and banking sectors but no one could rule out the possibility of technical correction as it adds to the underling sentiment of the broader market.
However, the index level of 12,700 was welcomed by the investors but based on statistic data of the previous records in boom years late 1990s or early 2000s, it was no match to the previous single session peak level and all-time single session high so far of 15,174.00 points and a volume figure of 2.2 billion shares, said Ahsan Mehanti.
He said no one could deny the fact that investors are in optimistic mood and if all goes well on the corporate and political front, the benchmark could make further deeper inroads in the single session level.
“The cement sector has now assumed the role of market trend setter under the lead of D.G. Khan and Lucky Cement aided by reports of higher earnings,” Analyst Samar Iqbal said and added “other liquid stocks are also in the firing line as saturation points are still far away”.
After last week's sustained run-up the market appears to be in a consolidation mood and how it behave during the next couple of sessions will be known after the technical correction in a highly overbought market is over, said another analyst Ashraf Zakaria.
Leading gainers were led by Unilever Pakistan and Indus Dyeing, up by Rs21.18 and Rs15.32 while prominent losers included Rafhan Maize and Bata Pakistan, off Rs57.14 and Rs36.16 respectively.
The traded volume rose to 205.790m shares from the previous 192m shares but losers managed to force a slight edge over the gainers at 151 to 145, with 69 shares holding on to the last levels.
The actives' list was led by JS & Co, easy one paisa at Rs10.49 on 22m shares followed by D.G. Khan Cement, higher by Rs1.07 at Rs28.23 on 21m shares, Lafarge Pakistan, steady by 29 paisa at Rs2.92 on 17m shares, Fauji Cement, firm by seven paisa at Rs4.25 on 3m shares, Azgard Nine, lower by four paisa at Rs7.17 on 11m shares, United Bank, higher by Rs3.31 at Rs69.72 on 7m shares and Engro Corporation, up Rs2 at Rs140.48 also on 7m shares.
They were followed by J.S. Bank, up 38 paisa at Rs4.42 on 7m shares, Arif Habib Corporation, lower 30 paisa at Rs30.27 on 5m shares and Pace Pakistan, easy by 29 paisa at Rs1.97 also on 5m shares.
FUTURE CONTRACTS: The active list on this counter was again led by D.G. Khan Cement on reports of higher earnings and was marked higher by Rs1.04 at Rs28.46 on 4.061m shares followed by Engro Corporation, up Rs2.12 at Rs108.36 on 3,487m shares and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, steady by 23 paisa at Rs44.24 on 1.229m shares.
They were followed by National Bank, steady by five paisa at Rs50.13 on 0.66m shares and Fauji Fertiliser, higher by Rs1.16 at Rs125.16 on 0.807m shares.
FUTURE CONTRACTS: Active list on this counter was again led by Dost Steels, easy by three paisa at Rs2.15 on 99,305 shares followed by Brothers Textiles, steady by 14 paisa at 1.17 on 66,629 shares, Redco Textiles, lower 45 paisa at Rs0.50 on 26,500 shares and Taj Textiles, up 10 paisa at 0.35 on 25,000 shares.
Unicap Modaraba, Dadabhoy Cement and Quice Foods also came in for active alternate bouts of buying and closed fractionally higher.
