Benchmark
KSE-100 index falls 262.02 points.
KARACHI: The benchmark-100 index broke an 11-day streak of ending in the green, closing below the 32,500 level as profit-taking and lower regional markets meant the northward journey has taken a breather.
At close on Tuesday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 index fell 0.80% or 262.02 points to end at 32,444.20.
Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza said financials, after remaining in the limelight in the past few sessions, led the declines mainly on account of profit-taking by institutions. “MCB Bank (MCB PA -1.16%) also underperformed the market after announcing earnings below street consensus.
“National Bank (NBP PA -4.94%) contributed most points to the declines on benchmark as the stock traded near its lower price limits on reported selling by foreign investors.
“Locals tracked flows and booked gains as market closed in red without panic as benchmark KSE-100 nearly held 32,500 at day’s close,” said Raza.
“We see the market to trade range-bound in the near term while institutional flows in the index names will primarily guide the market going forward. Having said this, any surprises in the on-going earnings season will keep investor interest alive,” he added.
Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said the KSE-100 index finally broke its positive streak as profit-taking was the theme of the day. “UBL (-0.46%) and PPL (-0.97%) were the major index movers.”
“Pakistan International Airlines (PIAA +1.1%), the national flag carrier was the volume leader with 15 million shares traded, as investors anticipated the government to go ahead with the privatisation process despite resistance.
“Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGP +4.9%) gained as news surfaced that the government of Pakistan is signing a 15 year deal with Qatar for import of 3.5 million tonnes of LNG per year. National Refinery Limited (NRL +0.17%) and APL (+0.36%) both closed in the green zone.
Trade volumes slightly fell to 148 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 152 million.
Shares of 325 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 89 stocks closed higher, 225 declined while 11 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.7 billion.
PIAC (A) was the volume leader with 15.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.09 to finish at Rs8.60. It was followed by Jahangir Siddiqui and Company with 11 million shares gaining, Rs1 to close at Rs21.02 and Pace (Pak) Limited with 10.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.31 to close at Rs7.03.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs1 billion during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2016.
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