Karachi stock smashes 27,000-barrier as bull-run enters seventh day

Pakistan's Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) regained the psychological 27,000-barrier on Monday in what turned out to be the seventh straight bullish session which took the total tally of gains to 1,697.33 points since Feb. 27. The benchmark KSE 100-Index jumped 1.06 percent, or 284.03 points, to close at 27,176.26 points, up from Friday's 26,892.23 points. The KSE All Share Index rose 1.06 percent or 211.97 points to 20,189.62 points, the KSE 30-Index surged by 1.22 percent or 239. 38 points to 19,786.29 points, whereas the KMI 30-Index advanced by 1.55 percent or 695.33 points to 45,599.06 points. During Monday's session, the key index hit an intraday high of 27,220.51 points, as against an intraday low of 26,834.55 points. On the back of local institutions' continued buying, interest in blue chips and rupee's appreciation, the local bourse kept rallying and successfully closed at a historic high level Oil stocks remained in the limelight with Pakistan State Oil closing up 5 percent, Pakistan Oilfields Limited gaining 2 percent and Pakistan Petroleum Limited up 4 percent. Trading volume added by 41.34 million shares to 244.68 million shares, turnover surged by 2.82 billion rupees (26.892 million U.S. dollars) to 12.42 billion rupees (118.33 million U.S. dollars), whilst market capitalization expanded by 68.90 billion rupees (656. 21 million U.S. dollars) to 6.56 trillion rupees (62.50 billion U. S. dollars). Among Monday's 385 active scrips, 199 advanced, 172 declined and 14 others stayed unchanged. TRG Pakistan Limited, Byco Petroleum and Maple Leaf Cement were most heavily traded, with turnover at 19.14 million shares, 17.27 million shares and 16.48 million shares, respectively. Nestle Pakistan was the top price gainer, up 50 rupees (47.61 U. S. cents) to close at 8,950 rupees (85.23 U.S. dollars), while Unilever Foods led losers by falling 475 rupees (4.52 U.S. dollars) to finish at 9,025 rupees (85.95 U.S. dollars).