Results-driven buying keeps Karachi stocks up

Karachi stocks on Thursday extended the winning streak as corporate earnings kept the buying interest in the leveraged shares intact, analysts said.
"Major support came from the oil, auto and fertiliser sectors," analyst Ahmed Saeed at JS Global Capital said.
"As global crude oil prices gained a little the E&P (exploration and production) sector moved on the positive trajectory."
The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share Index gained 72.05 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 36,228.88 points. KSE 30-share Index shed 31.18 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 22,475.42 points. As many as 397 scrips were active; of which 241 advanced, 133 declined and 23 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 337.828 million shares as compared to 336.736 million shares recorded in the last trading session.
Analysts foresee positive movement on the last day of week and correction in the near future.
Dealers said stocks closed at an all-time high, led by oil marketing companies, autos and pharmaceuticals ahead of results announcements. However, late session pressure in the overbought cement stocks dampened the sentiments.
Easing political concerns and expectation of healthy earnings invited buying in auto and pharmaceutical stocks, they said.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl withdrew their resolutions on de-seating 28 lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
“Withdrawal of de-seating motion stoked bullish sentiments,” said analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Commodities.
Major gainers in the oil sector were Pakistan State Oil, up 3.1 percent, and National Refinery Limited that rose 3.9 percent.
Autos continued to rally on the back of good results. HINO surged 5.0 percent and Agritech Autos edged up 1.3 percent. Both were in the spotlight among all the scrips in the sector.
Profit taking was, however, witnessed in the cement sector throughout the day where biggest laggards of the sector were Maple Leaf Cement (down 1.6 percent), Lafarge Pakistan (falling 1.1 percent) and DG Khan Cement (dropping 0.2 percent).
Highest volumes were witnessed in Silk Bank (Rights) with a turnover of 26.326 million shares.
The scrip inched up one paisa to close at Re0.29/share. It was followed by K-Electric Limited with a turnover of 25.088 million shares. It rose 18 paisas to end at Rs8.25/share.
Pak Elektron was the third with a turnover of 16.572 million shares. Its value increased Rs1.25 to finish at Rs92.93/share.