KSE-100 retains 7800 level against odds in Pakistan
Pakistan Times Business & Commerce Desk

KARACHI: Confronted with an expected correction which compelled the KSE-100 index to lose 130 points in the first part of the trading session pulling down the index to reach days low at the 7719 level.

However the strong will for recovery on the back of positive economic developed helped the index to retain its 7800 level here on Monday.

After losing almost 130 points, the market staged a strong recovery of 88 points in the second part of the trading session which helped the index to hold the 7800 point support level, though the market finally closed with an overall decline of 42 points at the 7807 point level when the final bell rung at the Karachi Stock Exchange.

Mainly, PTCL and the banking sector scrips were behind the market’s recovery, however the Telecom giant PTCL continued its exceptional performance by posting an increment of Rs1.00 to close at Rs66.30. While other high profile scrips including NBP, BoP and MCB surged by 2.5%, 1.7% and 1.9% respectively.

Most of the energy sector scrips depicted declines on the back of envisaged profit taking spurred due to the declining trend in the international crude oil prices.

The Index giant OGDCL lost Rs3.85 to close at Rs112.05. POL, PPL and PSO decreased marginally by 0.01%, 0.5% and 0.40% respectively. Trading volumes remained healthy at 445m shares comprising 25% shares of future counter.

Following movements on the economist front of Pakistan are certain have their positive impact on the capital market in the days to come. Some of these developments as featured below include Honda Motor Co. of Japan, having a joint venture with Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Ltd, has announced it will invest 2.9 billion yens ($26.85m) in the local automotive industry to double its production capacity to around 50,000 units in the current fiscal year.

Honda Motor has 51 percent stake with its joint venture company in Pakistan and is working on a full production capacity of 25,000 units. Honda Atlas is assembling its two famous models, Honda Civic and Honda City, which are very popular locally and the demand for such models are rapidly increasing.

Meanwhile, the Board of National Refinery Limited (NRL) has recommended 75 percent final cash dividend or Rs 7.50 per share as the net profit of the company, which improved by 14.6 percent during the financial year 2004-05.

According to the full year’s financial results circulated at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), the net profit of the company reached Rs 2.12 billion compared to Rs 1.84 billion earned during the financial year before last.

Analysts said the major contribution to the improvement in earnings was made by higher sales compared to those of the previous year, enhanced operating profits and a decline in financial charges.

President and chief executive officer of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Junaid Iqbal has said Etisalat telecom; the winner of PTCL’s 26 percent shares would takeover PTCL by the end of current month. The formalities in this regard have already been finalized.

The Privatization Commission is holding bidding for the sale of 96.34 percent shares of Javedan Cement Limited (JCL) on September 14 (Wednesday) at Islamabad.

A pre-bid meeting was organized on September 3 to create better understanding of the transaction and the bidding process and to respond to the queries of the potential buyers. The status of various relevant legal cases was also conveyed to the participants.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Pakistan $3.7 billion during next three years (2006-08), says its President Harohiko Kurodo. ADB had decided to step up assistance to Pakistan to finance infrastructure projects in the energy, water, transport and communication sectors, as well as for social sector development of the country.●