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At the psychological barrier
END April review
By M. Bilal Aftab
The News-Prime Bank Composite Index of VIS recorded gains during April 2003. however, the Composite index is still to break the psychological barrier of 5,000 points. On April 30, 2003 the index closed at 4,757.2 points, which was 336.2 points or 7.6 per cent higher than 4,420.9 points marked at the end of March 2003.
Index's closing at the month end was also the highest point it touched during the month under review whereas the lowest recording of 4,364.9 points was made on the 1st of April.
On as many as 16 out of 21 days when trading commenced at the KSE, the index closed in the positive column whereas it lost value at the end of the remaining five days.
Amongst the two major components of the Composite Index, moved in tandem with the Composite while recording gains over the last month. Financials index reached 3,069.3 points with an increase of 313.9 points or a massive 11.4 per cent over its end-March's close of 2,755.4 points. Industrial Index, the other major component of the Composite, reached 5,503.1 points and gained 343.3 points or 6.7 per cent over its preceding month's close of 5,159.8 points.
Displaying the breadth of the positive trend, 33 out of 36 sector indices of the News-Prime Bank Index Family closed positively during April 2003 whereas only three lost value during the said period.
Among the sector indices on the financials side, the index of 'Banks & Investment Companies' sector topped the list with an over-the-month increment of 34.6 points or 17.2 per cent. In this group, none of the sector indices lost value over March-end.
In the industrial group, the index of 'Paper & Forest Products' sector topped the list and reached 999.8 points with a substantial increase of 225.5 points or 29.1 per cent. The index of 'Fertilizers' sector remained the most badly hit losing 8.3 per cent during the month as it dipped to 683.1 points from 744.7 points.
Other Market-Indicators:
The KSE-100 of Karachi Stock Exchange recorded gains during April but could not break the psychological barrier of 3,000 points. KSE-100 closed at 2902.4 points and gained 186.7 points which was 6.9 per cent of its last month's closing of 2715.7 points.
Trading at the Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges also remained dominated by the bulls. At the end of April 2003, LSE-101 of Lahore closed at 1740.2 points with a rise of 71.1 points or 4.3 per cent over its end-March closing. Similarly, ISE-Network Index of Islamabad, which is also a price-based composite index developed by VIS, progressed significantly gaining 675.6 points or 11.4 per cent and closed at 6600.1 points.
There was an increase in the average daily turnover at the KSE. On an average, 200 million shares changed hands on each of the 21 days of trading as against an average turnover of 146 million shares estimated for March 2003.
News-Prime Bank Indexes
Major Indexes
Major Index Closing as on Change over
April 30, 2003 March 31, 2003
Composite 4,575.2 336.2 (7.6%)
Financials 3,069.3 313.9 (11.4%)
Industrials 5,503.1 343.3 (6.7%)
Base: 10,000 December 29, 1994
Top Percentage Gaining
Sector Indexes
Sector Index Closing as on Change over
April 30, 2003 March 31, 2003
Paper & Forest Products 999.8 225.5 (29.1%)
Jute 1,008.3 152.1 (17.8%)
Banks & Investment Cos. 235.5 34.6 (17.2%)
Leasing Companies 184.0 25.5 (16.1%)
Automotive Assembler 1,185.3 160.9 (15.7%)
Base: 1,000 December 29, 1994
Top Percentage Losing
Sectors Indexes
Sector Index Closing as on Change over
April 30, 2003 March 31, 2003
Fertilizers 683.1 -61.6 (-8.3%)
Apparels 208.4 -8.8 (-4.0%)
Vanaspati & Allied 441.7 -18.0 (-3.9%)
Base: 1,000 December 29, 1994