PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: The stock market on Thursday recorded little gains, mostly in the financial sector, but failed to consolidate its position and ended the day on a negative note.
At close, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index showed a drop of 0.24% or 82.50 points to end at 33,762.80.
Elixir Securities analyst Sibtain Mustafa said the bourse had a choppy trading day. “The index started off on a positive note reacting to the morning news about Pakistan’s eligibility for World Bank funding.”
“However, midday selling by mainly locals dragged the index to test lows albeit on low volumes,” said Mustafa.
A marginal recovery was recorded as the index improved on institutional buying interest as the end of the rollover week and expectation of a soft Consumer Price Index (CPI) number helped created liquidity.
“Overall, volumes were concentrated in National Bank Pakistan (NBP) with 1.68x EPS growth and Rs5.5 per share cash dividend,” said Mustafa. “Fauji Fertiliser Company continues to hit highs after the company’s urea dispatches grew 20% year-on-year.”
JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said that NBP remained in the limelight as the bank announced its year-end results with EPS of Rs7.06 and dividend of Rs5.5 per share coming in line with expectations.
“Among volume leaders, Pakistan International Bulk Terminal rose 1.9% after announcing its 2QFY15 results. Its EPS stood at Rs0.04 against a loss of Rs0.03 in the same period last year.”
According to Ghous, mixed sentiments were recorded in the oil and gas sector on the back of a slight recovery in global crude oil prices.
“In the cement sector, the market remained bearish due to persistent rumours of a possible break-up of the cartel apparent from a sharp drop in the price of market leader Lucky Cement (-2.5%) during the week.”
Trade volumes rose to 169 million shares compared to 140 million on Wednesday.
Shares of 375 companies were traded. Of these, 205 declined, 149 closed higher and 21 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.5 billion.
K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 19.1 million shares, losing Rs0.06 to close at Rs8.22. It was followed by National Bank of Pakistan with 13.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.33 to close at Rs67.78 and Pakistan International Bulk Terminal with 11.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.68 to close at Rs36.19.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs259 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2015.
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