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Still better trading days ahead
END August review
By Tabinda Shakeel
At the end of the August 2003, The New-Prime Bank Composite Index of VIS maintained the level it achieved at the end of the last month July 2003. The idea of that market remained on an upward path, as depicted by some other indicators like KSE 100, was not true on a broad-based basis.On August 31st 2003 the index closed at 6631.4 points by losing barely 6.2 points, which means it, had a decrease of 0.1% only as compared to the last month's closing of 6637.6 points.
On the 08th Aug the index touched 6712 points, which was the highest during August, whereas the lowest recording of 6463 points was made on the 15th Aug 2003.
On as many as 12 out of 20 days when trading commenced at the KSE, the index closed in the positive column whereas it lost value at the end of the remaining 8 days.
The two major constituents of the Composite Index; Financials and Industrials, moved in lockstep with Composite index.
Financials index maintained the same level of 4623.8 points; the closing of the month under review is found to be identical to the closing of the last month, which was 4623.8 points.
Industrial Index, the other major component of the Composite, fell down to 7418.5 points by losing 13.9 points or 0.2% in comparison to its preceding month's close of 7432.3 points.
Displaying the breadth of the positive trend, 21 out of 36 sector indices of the News-Prime Bank Index Family closed positively during August 2003 whereas 15 lost value during the said period.
Among the sector indices on the financials side, the index of 'Insurance Companies' sector topped the list with an over-the-month increment of 56.1 points or 9.2 per cent. In this group, followed by "Banks & Investment Companies" sector over the month increment of 17.0 points or 5.0 per cent. Whereas, there are two sectors, which lost, value over the month of August 2003.i.e. "Modarabas" and "Mutual Funds" sectors.
Modarabas fell down to 463.8 points by losing 40.5 points or decreased by 8% from its previous month's ending of 504.3 points.
Mutual Funds fell down to 548.1 points by losing 12.5 points or decreased by 2.2% from its previous month's ending of 560.6 points.
In the industrial group, the index of 'Cement & Building Products' sector topped the list and reached 187.2 points with a nominal increase of 18.8 points or 11.2% from its preceding months closing of 168.4 points, besides this, the sector of "Polyester/Fiber/Chip/Filament held runner up, reached at 437.5 points with the addition of 41.5 points or increased by 10.5% compared to its previous month's closing of 396.0 points. The index of 'Sugar & Allied' sector remained the most badly hit losing 10.2% during the month as it dipped to 641.9 points from 714.5 points with the loss of 72.6 points. The runner up on the loser side is 'Apparel' that fell down to 269.5 points with the loss of 29.3 points from its preceding month's closing of 298.8 points, which means it decreased by 9.8%.
Other Market-Indicators:
The KSE-100 of Karachi Stock Exchange recorded gains during August but could not break the psychological barrier of 4500 points. KSE-100 closed at 4461.5 points and gained 528.1 points, which was 13.4% of its last month's closing of 3933.4 points.
Trading at the Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges also remained dominated by the bulls. At the end of August, LSE-25 of Lahore closed at 2690.91 points with a decline of 23.49 points from 2714.40 points. Similarly, ISE-Network Index of Islamabad, which is also a price-based composite index developed by VIS, progressed by gaining 1.18 points and closed at 10418.36 points.
There was an increase in the average daily turnover at the KSE. On an average, 610 million shares changed hands on each of the 20 days of trading as against an average turnover of 485 million shares estimated for July 2003.
News-Prime Bank Indexes
Major Index Closing as on Change over
July 31st 2003 June 30, 2003
Composite 6631.4 (-6.2) (-0.1%)
Financial 4623.8 0.0 (0%)
Industrial 7418.5 (-13.9) (-0.2%)
Base: 10,000 December 29, 1994
Top Percentage Gaining Sector Indexes
Sector Index Closing as on Change over
August 31, 2003 July 31, 2003
Cement & Building Products 187.2 18.8 (11.2%)
Polyester Fiber/Chip/Filament 437.5 41.5 (10.5%)
Insurance 664.5 56.1 (9.2%)
Automotive Assembler 1596.7 125.3 (8.5%)
Natural Gas & LPG 599.8 39.5 (7.1%)
Base: 1,000 December 29, 1994
Top Percentage Losing Sector Indexes
Sector Index Closing as on Change over
August 31, 2003 July 31, 2003
Sugar & Allied 641.9 (72.6) (-10.2%)
Apparels 269.5 (29.3) (-9.8%)
Modarabas 463.8 (40.5)(-8.0%)
Leather & Tanneries 550.8 (26.1)(-4.5%)
Textile Weaving 587.1 (24.4)(-4.0%)
Base: 1,000 December 29, 1994