Karachi - Led by selected oil and fertilizer scrips, stocks Thursday showed recovery on institutional support in oversold market and the benchmark KSE 100-index closed 43 points or 0.13pc up at 32,583 level.
Karachi stock market remained volatile as it traded in the range of +/-100 points. In spite of IMF’s director Masood Ahmed statement in which he appreciated govt’s efforts for economic developments, investors remained cautious due to concerns of ongoing protests by Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), observed Samar Iqbal VP at Topline Securities. Volumes declined with 145m shares (worth Rs8.1b/$81m) traded compared to 172m shares (Rs9.8b/ $98m) on last session Wednesday.
Rumor of 20-25% increase in gas development surcharge instead of 60%, as announced earlier, brought renewed interest in fertilizer stocks especially Fatima Fertilizer (FATIMA) and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim (FFBL) while Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) also showed small gain, the analyst said.
Engro Corporation (ENGRO) slightly gained as there were rumors that it is planning to sell 10% of its Engro Fertilizer (EFERT) holdings in the next few weeks.
LUCK would be one of the beneficiaries of the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway inaugurated by Prime minister yesterday. Contrary to investors’ expectations, however, LUCK did not perform well due to fear of continuous foreign outflows in the stock.
Within the oil & gas sector, SHEL down 4.4% remained under pressure after it announced a loss of Rs.9.97/share for the year ended 2014. Fertilizer sector continued its bearish trend led by EFERT declined 3.7% due to hike in gas prices being implemented from April. PAEL dip 0.4% remained under pressure as investors opted to book their profits, stated analyst Muhammed Mobeen
Weak global commodities and fears on foreign selling impacted the sentiments. Support on rising sales data in auto, cement, oil and fertilizer sector for Jul-Feb’15 played a catalyst role in positive sentiments at KSE, said analyst Ahsan Mehanti.