KARACHI: Despite political skirmish stock market showed confidence on Wednesday as the KSE-100 index remained positive making an intra-day high of +360 points to finally settle at 38,820 levels, up 295 points. Stability in Pakistani Rupee along with value buying led to the gains.Some resolutions on political front were in sight when Prime Minister would return from Turkey & addresses issues pertaining to Fata reforms during Friday’s meeting between the Prime Minister and parliamentary leaders. “Stocks closed bullish led by selected scrips across the board on higher global crude oil prices, upbeat data for car sales in November 2017 and speculations ahead of year end close. Concerns for rupee volatility against dollar invited mid session pressure. Reports on surging fertilizer and cement sales in December 2017 and rising local cement prices played a catalyst role in bullish close”, said senior analyst Ahsan Mehanti. Traded volumes plummeted by 40 percent DoD to 118mn shares while value traded dropped to $ 49 million. E&Ps, POL (-0.1%) and PPL (-0.1%) and OGDC (-1.2%) declined despite Crude prices settled higher amid speculation on a sizable decline in U.S. oil supplies ahead of data. Moreover, investors interest was seen in ENGRO (+1.6%) & SSGC (+3.6%) as Engro Elengy Terminal Private Limited (EETPL) signed an LNG Supply Agreement (LSA) with Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). Furthermore, interest was seen in IPPs where HUBC (+0.3%), KAPCO (+1.1%), closed high on the back of the news that the Senate standing committee on finance has directed the Power Division to resolve the issue of the payment of Rs32.45 billion to the IPPs. JS Research’s analyst recommends investors to stay cautious and avoid taking long term positions unless there is clarity on politics and economy. On the sector front; Fertilizer added 93 points, Commercial Banks added 46 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies added 34 points, & Cements 29 points, on the flip side Oil & Gas Exploration Companies took away 29 points, Sugar fell 8 points & Engineering was down 6 points. Published in Daily Times, December 14th 2017.