Market watch: Volume goes down as index falls 324 points

Benchmark KSE-100 index settles at 31,820.54

KARACHI: The benchmark-100 index slipped back to a bearish trend as lacklustre trading coupled with falling crude oil prices meant investors were happy to trim their positions, taking KSE-100 below 32,000.

At close on Thursday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index fell 1.01% or 324.05 points to end at 31,820.54.

Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani said Pakistan equities closed negative for a third successive session, breaking support at the 32,000 level.

“Activity in the wider market remained dull and range bound with only $54 million shares exchanging hands on KSE-100 index as locals remained very selective and cautious in the wake of fresh wave of foreign selling in index names and interestingly in select illiquids.



“The biggest dent came from financials (~75 points) that were down on reported foreign selling in Habib Bank Limited (HBL,-1.89%) and United Bank Limited (UBL,-1.87%), followed by oils (~48 points) that tracked fresh losses in global crude.”

JS Global analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan said negativity prevailed as the market succumbed to selling pressure. “The index fell to close at 31,820 (-1.01%) as Oil Gas Development Corporation (-2.29%) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (-1.88%) were the major index movers,” said Khan. “They lost value as crude oil fell to trade below $27/bbl level.”

“Profit taking was seen in Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (-4.31%), as the gas utility posted a loss of Rs3.93 per share in their result announcement. Cement sector came under selling pressure on account of news that the government has slashed their development spending budget in order to keep expenditures in line with the limit set with IMF.

“Heavy weights in the sector, D.G.Khan Cement (-0.25%), Fauji Cement Company Limited (-1.13%) and Maple Leaf Cement (-0.37%), all closed in the red zone.”



Trade volumes decreased to 112 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 169 million.

Shares of 345 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 82 stocks closed higher, 242 declined while 21 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.9 billion.

Byco Petroleum was the volume leader with 10.8 million shares, losing Rs0.06 to finish at Rs18.27. It was followed by TRG Pakistan Limited with 5.8 million shares losing, Rs0.51 to close at Rs27.23 and TPL Tracker Limited with 5 million shares, gaining Rs0.31 to close at Rs12.93.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs13.5 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2016.

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