Benchmark KSE 100-share Index loses 110.09 points
At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark index registered a decrease of 0.28% or 110.09 points to end at 39,098.79.
The wider market plunged into the red soon after the positive start as participants preferred to sit on the sidelines awaiting clarity on institutional flows.
“Major contribution to losses came from financials, E&Ps and select index names that closed lower; Pakistan State Oil (PSO PA -2.1%), MCB Bank (MCB PA -1%) and Habib Bank (HBL PA -0.7%) dented KSE-100 index the most,” said Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani.
“Most activity was in small and mid-cap speculative plays with day-traders taking advantage of volatility and hunting for a quick buck.
“Recent laggard Engro Fertilizers (EFERT PA +1.5%) carried on with momentum and stood strong, while Hascol Petroleum (HASCOL PA +4.7%) hit upper price limit on reported institutional buying on bets of exceptional volumetric growth (note that the stock has gained over 25% since June 27),” Bilwani added.
Meanwhile, JS Global stated that the index followed regional trend and remained in the red zone for most part of the day.
“Profit taking across the board was witnessed as the index shed off around 110 points,” said analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan.
“The oil sector remained under pressure on the back of declining global crude oil prices, where PSO (-2.15%) and OGDC (-0.60%) were the major index movers in the sector today.
“Index heavyweight banks remained majorly negative throughout the day on deepening concerns of further interest rate cuts in the upcoming monetary policy,” said Khan.
“After a long bull run, profit taking was witnessed in the pharmaceutical sector as the major index movers of the sector today were ABOT (-0.99%) and GLAXO (-0.78%).
“Moving forward we expect volatility to persist and advise a cautious approach,” he added.
Trading volumes rose to 232 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 178 million.
Shares of 357 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 140 stocks closed higher, 174 declined while 43 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.5 billion.
Sui North Gas was the volume leader with 23.2 million shares, gaining Rs1.34 to finish at Rs43.67. It was followed by Sui South Gas with 14.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.36 to finish at Rs30.70 and K-Electric Limited with 14.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.10 to close at Rs8.26.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs190 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2016.
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