Share market finishes weekend session in bullish frame of mind

The KSE 100-share index posted a fresh sharp rise of 148.90 points or 1.04 per cent at 14,473.90.as compared to 14,324.95 a day earlier, reflecting the strength of leading base shares, notably MCB, OGDC, National Bank and PTCL. The KSE 30-share index also rose by 164.30 points at 17,385.05 points.

Analysts said a section of leading investors seems to be in a mood to push the index to their next target of 15,000 points, which now not appears an elusive goal before the year is out.

However, what worries them how to achieve it as the intervening eid holidays could slow down the current tempo of and they are uncertain of year-end buying at this stage during the post-eid holiday trading.

Bulk of the support again remained confined to the banking shares followed by reports that the capital gain tax will be imposed on this sector from January 1, 2008, analysts said adding "leading banks having a massive portfolio investment on selected counters cashed in on the existing capital gains".

But what, however, appeared to be the main driving force behind the current run-up sustained throughout the week was the advent of foreign buying on the oil and banking sectors, which in turn evoked a lot of buying on other sectors, they said.

The market may ran into technical selling by the middle of the next week on unloading by the weakholders before the Eid holidays but the possibility of a big shakeout appears to be a bit remote, some others said.

"The interesting feature of the week's trading was that it ignored the negative fallout of the political developments as investors followed the basic market fundamentals, notably the perception of a continued bull-run," they added.