Morning Briefing

July 29, 2010

Market Overview

The market remained volatile on Wednesday. The KSE-100 Index gained 49.47 points to end the day at 10,436.29 on the back of 86m shares traded. Most of the activity was concentrated in the Chemicals, Banks, Fixed Line Communication, Oil & Gas, Construction & Materials sectors. The top gainers according to Index points were PPL, P.T.C.L.A. NBP and; likewise, top decliners were HBL, ENGRO and FFC.
We advise investors to BUY on dips.

Inside: NFDC reveals Fertilizer data for 6MCY10

News Snapshots

Tragedy in the Margallas: Airblue Flight 202, which took off from Karachi at ten minutes to eight in the morning, had before the end of the next two hours crashed into the Margalla hills, killing all 152 people on board, including passengers and crew.(dawn)

Collection of reformed GST: body formed by Prime Minister given two-week deadline: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday constituted a Special Committee headed by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to finalise collection of Reformed GST within two weeks. Gilani was chairing meeting of the Special Economic Co-ordination Committee and announced its constitution comprising the finance secretaries and experts of all the provinces. (BR)

No change likely in interest rates in new policy: Financial markets are anticipating the interest rates to remain unchanged at the existing level when the central bank announces on Friday the first monetary policy of 2010-11.(Dawn)

RBS acquisition: SBP grants NOC to Faysal Bank: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday granted No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Faysal Bank Limited for the purchase of Royal Bank of Scotland Pakistan operation. Faysal Bank Limited (FABL) has already entered into an agreement to acquire 99.37 percent interest in the Pakistan franchise of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS Pakistan) for a cash consideration of EUR 41 million (equivalent to Rs 4.298 billion @ Rs 2.52 per share).(BR)

OGIL granted exploration licence: The government on Wednesday granted an exploration licence to Oil and Gas Investments Limited (OGIL) for Block No 2667-12 (Baran) located in Sindh. The latter will make an initial investment of $5.2 million at the exploration stage.(BR)