Karachi stock bucks 5 day bearish streak over IMF loan hope

After falling for 1,197.56 points or over 5 percent in the last five trading sessions, equities at Pakistan\'s Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) recorded bullish trading activities on Tuesday as the main index gained around 100 points amid lower investors\'participation. The benchmark KSE 100-Index gained 0.39 percent or 83.80 points to close at 21,808.48 points on Tuesday as against 21,724.68 points recorded Monday. The KSE All Share Index inched up by 0.04 percent or 6.14 points to end at 15,747.17 points, the KSE 30-Index swelled by 0. 47 percent or 80.33 points to conclude at 17,009.34 points, whereas the KMI 30-Index increased by 0.58 percent or 215.47 points to finish the day at 37,543.09 points on Tuesday. The Karachi Stock Exchange started the day amid bearish mood and the main index hit the lowest level of the day of 21,634.83 during initial trade before a strong bullish rally emerged which completely reversed the trends. The main index made a rainbow on the graph and touched an intraday highest point of 22,082.81 before closing below the psychological 22,000 levels. Market recovered mainly on expectations that new IMF loan will be approved in the Sept. 4 meeting. However, selling in Dera Ghazi Khan Cement (DGKC), Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) resulted in profit-taking at upper levels. DGKC lost 3 percent at close, PSO closed 1 rupee down and MLCF recorded 5 percent decline in its share value. Mid cap stocks remained on investors\'radar with Bank of Punjab continued to top the volume with 17 million shares while its stock price increased by 2 percent. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) witnessed 11. 5 million shares volume with stock price continued to climb by another 4 percent after Supreme Court verdict to expedite auction process of 3G license. The market volumes decline by 10.678 million shares to 169.475 million shares, the market capitalization improved by 377.415 million rupees (3.774 million U.S. dollars) to 5.4174 trillion rupees (54.174 billion U.S. dollars), whereas the KSE trading value swelled by 280.978 million rupees (2.809 million U.S. dollars) to 5.996 billion rupees (59.963 million U.S. dollars) on Tuesday. In broader market, a total of 347 companies changed hands during the course of trading on Tuesday where prices of 188 issues increased, 138 dropped, whereas values of 21 other scrips stayed unchanged at previous day\'s levels. Bank of Punjab was the top traded company of the day with trading of 16.601 million shares, followed by Fauji Cement and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited with turnovers of 13. 394 million shares and 11.472 million shares, respectively. Glamour Textile was the top price gainer of the day with increment of 10.85 rupees (10.85 U.S. cents) to close at 228 rupees (2.28 U.S. dollars) while on the other hand Nestle Pakistan led the major price shedders of the day with decrement of 310.52 rupees (3.10 U.S. dollars) to end at 5,965 rupees (59.65 U.S. dollars).