National Bank, Askari Commercial Bank, Muslim Commercial Bank, Bank of Punjab and Union Bank from the banking sector, PPL and PSO from petroleum sector and PTCL led the market upward, while Fauji Fertiliser Company, KESC and Pakistan PTA remained under pressure.
The market, which opened on a healthy note, remained in positive zone during the entire day's trading. The banking sector showed significant improvement on account of financial reports of the ending year December 31, 2004, which are likely to receive within next few days.
The news regarding interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per share of PPL also encouraged the investors to stay on buying course.
After correction during last two days, the market registered upward movement. The movement in index based shares ie PTCL and OGDC contributed 48 percent in the KSE index ie 59 points, while remaining 63 points were shared by other scrips, said Ahmad Nabeel of Invest and Finance Securities, while commenting on the market sentiments. Besides, sugar sector once again was shining on the board like 'twinkle twinkle litter stars' on the basis of its solid profitability.
However, market roller coaster days are not over and rough up and down is also expected in coming days, he added.
The rumours regarding government patch up with Nawab Akbar Bugti was the main reason behind upward thrust, which forced the investors to re-enter the market. Moreover, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has delayed its decision to change the petroleum prices for a day.
The investors are anticipating at least two-three percent upward change in the oil prices, which will increase profit margin of the petroleum companies. As a result, buying pressure was also seen in PPL and PSO, he maintained. As far as cement sector is concerned, the President's announcement and repeated statements on dams give positive signal to the cement manufacturing companies.
On the basis of this factor, D G Khan Cement improved its worth by Rs 3.10, he said.
Advancing stocks were far ahead of declining ones, as out of a total of 94 active issues, 38 companies registered gains, 8 went down, while 48 stayed glued to its previous levels. National Bank gained Rs 6.95, Askari Commercial Bank appreciated Rs 6.25, MCB and Adamjee Insurance improved by Rs 4.70 each, while PPL and Bank of Punjab were up by Rs 3.55 and Rs 3.45, respectively.
In the negative column, FFC declined by Rs 6.35, First Habib Modaraba lost Rs 2.00, while Worldcall Communication was down by Rs 1.30.
PTCL was the market leader whose 37.108 million shares changed hands, followed by National Bank and OGDC with total transaction of 15.581 million and 12.668 million shares, respectively.