IMF bailout talks revive Karachi bourse

Pakistan's Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) broke the three-day losing run on Wednesday as investors came back to buying ways on hopes of a fruitful bailout negotiation between Pakistani government and the visiting delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The benchmark KSE 100-Index surged by 0.99 percent or 216.09 points to regain the psychologically crucial 22,000 levels before closing at 22,135.72 levels on Wednesday as against 21,919.63 levels recorded on Tuesday as the market participants hoped that the newly-elected government would be able to fetch 3-5 billion US dollars fresh bailout package from the IMF. The KSE All Share Index gained 0.75 percent or 116.87 points to end at 15,601.74 levels on Wednesday as against 15,484.87 levels reported on Tuesday, the KSE 30-Index augmented by 1.02 percent or 173.56 points to conclude at 17,197.57 levels on Wednesday as against 17,024.01 levels posted in the previous trading session, whereas the KMI 30-Index jumped by 1.49 percent or 558.43 points to finish trade at 38,037.69 levels on Wednesday when compared with 37,479.26 levels witnessed the other day. The Karachi Stock Exchange started the trading proceedings on a strong bullish note on Wednesday morning where during the initial minutes the main index stormed past 22,000 levels and soon it breached the 22,100 levels. However, it faced some resistance above 22,100 points and moved in a narrow range before another buying push in the second half helped it to hit the intraday highest level of 22,246.97 before last-hour profit-taking ruined part of the intraday gains. The market experts were of the view that the investors associated high hopes of Pakistani government securing another IMF bailout package which it requires immensely to beat the balance of payment crisis which has crippled not only the economy but also has put a question mark on the government's ability to pay back the previous IMF loans. They further stated that the new government needs a breathing space with 3-5 billion U.S. dollars of another bailout package which would give them the time to focus on the economic issues. Samar Iqbal, equity dealer at Topline Securities, told Xinhua News Agency, "Visit of IMF gave the impression that Pakistan may get new loan that will help overcome balance of payment problems which triggered renewed interest in the Karachi stock market which had seen correction in the last few days. Pakistan State Oil and Engro Foods closed at their upper limit while decent activity was seen in Bank of Punjab, KASB Bank, Fauji Cement, and Lafarge Pakistan Limited which helped the market to settle above the 22, 000 psychological level." The market volumes were reduced by 40.265 million shares to 306. 287 million shares on Wednesday as against trading of 346.552 million shares registered on Tuesday as local individual investors were still cautious amid foreign selling in the last few trading sessions. The market capitalization improved by 40.204 billion rupees ( 410.249 million U.S. dollars) to 5.367 trillion rupees (54.766 billion U.S. dollars) on Wednesday when compared with the market capitalization worth 5.326 trillion rupees (54.356 billion U.S. dollars) reported the other day. The Karachi Stock Exchange's trading expanded by 301.776 million rupees (3.079 million rupees) to 9.752 billion rupees (99. 511 million US dollars) on Wednesday when compared with Tuesday's trading value of 9.450 billion rupees (96.432 million US dollars). As per the figures released by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL), the foreign investors came up with net buying of 405.342 million rupees (4.136 million US dollars) on Tuesday. During the current month, the offshore investors have net invested a sum of 3.047 billion rupees (31.097 million US dollars) in the top Pakistani equity market by June 17, 2013. In broader market, a total of 379 companies changed hands during the course of trading on Wednesday where prices of 224 issues ended in green zone, 133 nosedived into the red ink, whereas values of 22 other scrips stayed unchanged at Tuesday's levels. Bank of Punjab Right SPOT was the top traded company of the day with trading of 64.577 million shares in its scrip, followed by Bank of Punjab, KASB Bank Limited, Fauji Cement, Lafarge Pakistan Limited, Maple Leaf Cement, Pace Pakistan Limited, Dera Ghazi Khan Cement, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, and Jahangir Siddiqui Company Limited with turnovers of 29.157 million shares, 26.625 million shares, 16.008 million shares, 10.435 million shares, 9.548 million shares, 8.931 million shares, 8.140 million shares, 6.911 million shares, and 6.153 million shares, respectively. Bata Pakistan was the top traded company of the day with increment of 70 rupees (71.42 U.S. cents) per share to close at 1, 780 rupees (18.16 U.S. dollars), followed by Wyeth Pakistan Limited and Pakistan State Oil with increase of 48 rupees (48.97 U. S. cents) and 15.94 rupees (16.26 U.S. cents), respectively. On the other hand, Unilever Food led the major price shedders of the day with decrement of 50 rupees (51.02 U.S. cents) a share to end at 4,750 rupees (48.46 U.S. dollars), followed by Colgate Palmolive and Nestle Pakistan with decline of 38.50 rupees (39.28 U.S. cents) and 19.99 rupees (20.39 U.S. cents), respectively.