KARACHI: The market was volatile before the decision with thin volumes, the benchmark 100-index was down initially but before the announcement it bounced back above the 48,000-point levels. The market dipped as lost as 46,050 points when the Panama verdict date was announced, but ever since it continued to run hard and high and by Friday close, a day after the announcement, 50,000 point mark was within sight.
The Index gained 2834 points in three days and more than a billion shares were traded.
“The fear of street protest has ended with the decision,†said Zaffar Moti, a broker at PSX, before adding, “political uncertainty takes a back seat now and market fundamentals would keep pushing [the] market higher.â€
Rafique shared similar views before the decision, for him the market has changed a lot over the last 22 years, investors are genuine and not speculators, you can’t short sell this market as regulations are stiff. So, only those who have cash can take benefit of this market.
Though not everyone shared Mr Moti’s viewpoint, a research report published by a brokerage house on 20th April read:
“Broader benchmark soared to record an all time intraday high of 1906pts, as market participants have taken this development positive, closing the session deep in the green at 48743, however this issue will drag and might weaken the sentiments going forward esp. in the post MSCI EM scenario.â€
The house believes, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the court would dig deep into the money trail, thus for them, the matter is still alive and it would loom as a concern going forward.
But market closed the week o a high note, the index was up 2131 points at 49708; 1.38billion shares exchanged hands valuing Rs. 82billion.