OMCs fire up KSE

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) closed Tuesday on a higher note, led by energy stocks, amid reports that margins of oil marketing companies (OMCs) are likely to increase.

The news that the government might jack up the profits of the oil marketing companies and petroleum dealers by up to 47 percent through an increase in retail prices had been doing rounds in the press. As a result energy stocks took the center stage.

The benchmark KSE 100-Index closed 0.61 percent, or 67.65 points, higher at11,233.75.

Volume rose slightly to 26.8 million shares from 25.9million shares traded on Monday.

"The market was soft in the morning today, but oil stocks staged a small rally towards the end," said a broker. "Since the energy stocks are heavy weights, it resulted in a jump in the index despite the thin volumes," he added. (Reuters)