Recovery After Crash

Posted on 01.22.07 by Tanveer Sultan @ 2:41 pm    

After the index breaking the 9,900 level last month, started to rise gradually. When such a crash comes there is a level where short sellers start profit taking, so there is a slight change in the trend. Secondly the prices came on the lower level that they attracted the individuals to buy shares. As the future contracts for December were over and new month started so a fresh buying in Jan contracts was obvious. Another factor in my opinion which played the most vital role in supporting the index was the news that Prime Minister has postponed the decision to levy capital gain tax for next year. This made the institutions to come to the market for fresh purchasing. We saw that the index gained about 250 points in two days.

PSO sell-off attracts keen interest

Posted on 01.18.07 by StockPK Team @ 3:55 pm    

The Privatisation Commission (PC) has received keen interest from several parties in response to the recent re-advertisement for the proposed sale of 51 per cent shares in Pakistan State Oil (PSO) with management control, the PC said on Wednesday.

Parties and groups submitting Statement of Qualifications (SOQs) and/or reaffirming their continuing interest in PSO include Abraaj Capital, UAE, Abu Dhabi Group, UAE, Al-Ghurair Investment, UAE, consortium of Aljomaih Group Saudi Arabia and Noor Financial Investment, Kuwait and National Industries Group, Bakri International Energy Systems and Dabbagh Group Holding, Saudi Arabia, Goldman Sachs (Asia) Finance, Vitol SA (Switzerland) and MCB Bank, Fauji Foundation, Attock Group of Companies and Kohinoor Group led by Kohinoor Textiles from Pakistan. In addition, some parties indicated their interest but did not submit SOQ, including the PSO employee group.

Subscription for OGDCL shares opens

Posted on 01.11.07 by StockPK Team @ 11:27 am    

The three-day subscription for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited’s 21.505 million ordinary shares will open from Thursday.

This offer is being made at a price of Rs110 per ordinary share of Rs10 each, inclusive of a premium of Rs100 per share, but excluding the share transfer fee.

Application for shares must be made for 500 shares or in multiples of 500 shares only.

The minimum amount of application for subscription of 500 shares is Rs55,075 in case of physical transfer and Rs55,005 in case of transfer under the book entry system.

Standard Chartered to be listed on bourses

Posted on 01.09.07 by StockPK Team @ 12:14 pm    

Badar Kazmi, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited, said on Monday that three bourses of the country have cleared listing application of the new banking entity and consent of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) will be obtained in coming weeks.

Addressing a press conference after unveiling re-branded branch at Khayaban-Hafiz, he said that after the listing, the present shareholding pattern will continue. He said the bank is in the process of preparing new liability products, which will offer new investment opportunities to deposit holders besides meeting the instructions of the central bank to the banks to offer such products having more rates of profit.

Foreigners hold 20pc of free-float on KSE

Posted on 01.08.07 by StockPK Team @ 11:23 am    

Foreign investment in the country’s capital market is generally dismissed as of little consequence and an ex-chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange commented a little while ago that the market would be better off without it.

Such disillusionment stems from the mood swings of a foreign portfolio manager: “The outflow of funds is as quick as its inflow,” says a market guru. But the influence of the off-shore equity investment in the local bourses is growing.Admitting that the foreign funds hold just about 4 per cent of total market capitalization and the share of overseas funds in average daily volume is just about 3.5 per cent, analysts at the JS Capital Market have calculated that approximately 17 per cent of the share represents foreign investment in the float adjusted capitalization.

NBP Act to be amended

Posted on 01.05.07 by StockPK Team @ 12:46 pm    

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has planned to get the privatisation of state-owned National Bank of Pakistan completed after its corporatisation and major changes to the National Bank of Pakistan Act.

At present, 23.2 per cent shares in the bank are being traded on the three stock exchanges of the country. The federal government holds remaining shares in the bank.

The NBP, which is the only commercial bank of the country which enjoys sovereign guarantee of the government of Pakistan, was established in the 50s to finance the government’s commodity operations and handle accounts of state-controlled entities. In its latest financial sector review, the State Bank said it had been mandated to conduct the sale of another state-run bank, the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (IDBP).

Commentary on December 2006 Stock Crash

Posted on 01.04.07 by Tanveer Sultan @ 4:42 pm    

In the past two years we have seen some tremendous highs and lows in the stock market. Yet again we witness a major decline in the index. It all started in mid-December 2006, the causes being:

• Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) listing and undervalued sale of Global Deposit Receipts (GDRs);
• Selling in the banking sector due to acquisitions, and;
• Primarily, suspension of Callmate (CTTL) shares’ trading and the six times its pad up capital stuck in the continuous finance (CFS) and Badla market.