PHOTO: AFP/FILE
After a positive start that saw the benchmark KSE-100 Index touch 33,917, investors opted to book profits as global crude oil prices dipped intra-day.
At close on Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 index lost 0.0014% or 0.47 points to end at 33,767.12.
Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza stated that Pakistan equities closed flat after giving up morning gains on mid-day losses in oils.
“Turnover in the wider market was limited to small and mid-cap plays that dominated volumes chart on retail activity, while institutional interest remained selective in index names ahead of the weekend,” said Raza.
“Stocks opened positive carrying momentum from previous session and benchmark KSE-100 index gradually gained nearly 150 points during the morning session, however, slide in global crude during mid-session break led index heavy oils to open gap down in afternoon session, resulting in benchmark index to lose all its positive points.
“The only highlight of the day was Byco Petroleum (BYCO +2.4%) that topped the volumes chart and traded most volumes since October after the company notified the exchange of approving the merger of its oil marketing and refinery businesses,” he added.
Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous was of the view that market opened on a positive note but came under selling pressure during the late hours of trading.
“Profit taking was witnessed in the cement sector as Lucky Cement (LUCK -0.58%), Dera Ghazi Khan Cement (DGKC -0.60%) and Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL -0.02%) fell to close in the red zone,” said Ghous.
“Selling pressure was also seen in the E&P sector as slight correction was seen in crude oil prices ahead of the OPEC meeting on April 17,” he added.
Trade volumes rose to 193 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 188 million shares.
Shares of 353 companies were traded on Friday. At the end of the day, 178 stocks closed higher, 143 declined while 32 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.4 billion.
Byco Petroleum was the volume leader with 26.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.48 to finish at Rs20.68. It was followed by Descon Chemical with 13.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.44 to close at Rs8.08 and TRG Pakistan Limited with 10 million shares, gaining Rs0.03 to close at Rs33.77.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs263 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2016.
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