KARACHI, April 1: The Karachi Stock Exchange showed an improved performance on Tuesday followed by active short-covering in banking and insurance shares at lower levels, but the oil sector remained depressed despite reports of presence of foreign support.

The KSE 100-share index recovered 85 points at 15,209.86.

Unlike the previous bull markets, the buying interest remained confined mostly to second-liners and some inactive shares as leading investors were not inclined to go for high-profile issue for no apparent bearish reasons.

The KSE 100-share index recovered a good part of the overnight losses on active buying on the perception that the new government would take some immediate steps to put the economy back on the rails.

After having fluctuated either-way in early trading, it finally managed to finish with a sharp rise of 84.57 points at 15,209.86, but the free float 30-share index posted a bigger gain of 131.87 points at 18,570.01 on the strength of leading base shares.“Today is the first of April, universally celebrated as harmless and a witty joke under the name of an April fool in different forms and ways in various countries, but it was not a mock rally here at the bourse, it was genuine one,” said a leading analyst, adding “as it came in the backdrop of a downward revision in the growth rate to 6.5 per cent from seven per cent owing to weak performance of the farm sector.”

It appears to be a pleasant broker joke to keep the market in an optimistic mood after having pushed the index sharply higher sans the relative weak performance of the leading base shares, another said, adding apparently it was to greet the new coalition government.

There were no signs of a previous market crash probe fears after the trading resumed as investors covered positions on selected counters at the overnight lower levels, keeping the index in good shape. Even those shares, which fell overnight on probe talk, recovered smartly amid active trading, analyst Ashraf Zakaria said

However, the notable change in the market direction was that leading investors mostly opted for low-priced shares in the banking and other sectors in an apparent effort to play safe, a leading analyst Ahsan Mehanti said. He said the renewed buying interest was based on revival of foreign buying in some of the low-priced banking shares, actively followed by the local institutions.

Hereto inactive shares, notably Fateh Textiles and Rafhan Maize were among the top gainers, up by Rs25 and Rs122.50. Other prominent gainers included JS & Co, Adamjee Insurance, EFU General, EFU Life, Lakson Tobacco, Atlas Honda, Murree Brewery, Unilever Pakistan, Pakistan Cables and Siemens Pakistan, which posted gains, ranging from Rs7.50 to Rs25.

AKD Capital and Pakistan Engineering were leading among the losers, off by Rs34.90 and Rs18.70 followed by Bata Pakistan. Trading volume rose modestly to 218m shares from the previous 203m shares as gainers held a strong lead over the losers at 185 to 151, with 38 shares holding on to the last levels.

Azgard Nine, which has recently joined the list of actives, again led the list, up by Rs3.35 at Rs70.70 on 15m shares followed by Bank Alfalah, up 50 paisa at Rs54.55 on 13m shares, Fauji Fertiliser, sharply higher by Rs5.10 at Rs145.60 on 12m shares, JS Bank, firm 35 paisa at Rs21.95 on 10m shares, NIB Bank, up one rupee at Rs19 also on 10m shares, Lucky Cement, off Rs1.40 at Rs138.35 on 9m shares, and Hub Power, steady by 25 paisa at Rs32.20 on 9m shares.

Other actives were led by Arif Habib Securities, higher by Rs2.30 at Rs178.75 on 7m shares, D G Khan Cement, steady by 10 paisa at Rs113.10 on 8m shares, and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, up 30 paisa at Rs45.65 on 7m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: JS Bank was again actively traded and led the list of actives on the cleared list, up by Rs1.30 at Rs22.30 on 5m shares, followed by Lucky Cement, off Rs1.40 at Rs139.25 on 4m shares, NIB Bank, up one rupee at Rs.19.35 on 3m shares and MCB Bank, higher by Rs1.45 at Rs419.70 on 2m shares.