Market watch: Index ends marginally negative
Benchmark KSE 100-share Index falls 13.71 points
Benchmark KSE 100-share Index falls 13.71 points.
KARACHI:
Pakistan equities lost steam after Monday’s surge and closed the day marginally negative after the benchmark KSE-100 index traded in a narrow range of little over 180 points.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE 100-share Index fell 0.03% or 13.71 points Tuesday to end at 39,786.93.
Elixir Securities, in its report, said the stocks opened sideways and wider market struggled to find any clear direction as lower region and crude kept value hunters at bay.
“Although index heavy Exploration and Production (E&Ps) opened gap down in morning tracking retreat of global crude, benchmark KSE-100 index weathered the brunt and managed to hover between green and red zone in the first ninety minutes of trading.
“Selling pressure primarily in blue-chips stocks including Lucky Cements (LUCK PA -3.7%), Engro Corp (ENGRO PA -1.5%), Engro Foods (EFOODS PA -0.4%) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO PA -1.4%) pulled benchmark index lower to test 39,675 intraday.
“The KSE-100 index however recovered on the back of selective interest with United Bank Limited (UBL PA +1%), National Refinery Limted (NRL PA +5%), Pak Suzuki (PSMC PA +4.9%), International Steels Limited (ISL PA +5%) and ICI Pakistan (ICI PA +4.6%) mainly supporting the ride,” said the report.
JS Global analyst Ahmad Saeed Khan said volatility prevailed as the index juggled between -125 and +60 points to finally close on a flattish level, obliterating all hopes of the PSX breaking the psychological level of 40,000 points.
“The banking sector rally lost its intensity as most banks were only marginally positive with excitement of CPI and Monetary policy fading away. Top index movers of the sector on Tuesday were UBL (+0.98%) and ABL (+0.72%).
“PSMC (+4.92%) rallied on back of news that company has increased prices of its variants to the tune of Rs20,000-44,000 in response to the appreciating Yen.
“The oil sector remained depressed as global crude oil prices tumbled again on the back of increase reported in US oil rigs count despite inventory levels being the highest in almost two decades. Biggest laggards of the aforementioned sector were PPL (-1.58%) and PSO (-1.43%).”
Trade volumes rose to 226 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 204 million.
Shares of 375 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 203 stocks closed higher, 147 declined while 25 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.5 billion.
Dewan Cement was the volume leader with 29.7 million shares gaining Rs0.81 to finish at Rs16.94. It was followed by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines with 20.8 million shares gaining Rs1.50 to close at Rs45.70 and TRG Pakistan Limited with 13.3 million shares gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs35.86.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs290 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2016.
Pakistan equities lost steam after Monday’s surge and closed the day marginally negative after the benchmark KSE-100 index traded in a narrow range of little over 180 points.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE 100-share Index fell 0.03% or 13.71 points Tuesday to end at 39,786.93.
Elixir Securities, in its report, said the stocks opened sideways and wider market struggled to find any clear direction as lower region and crude kept value hunters at bay.
“Although index heavy Exploration and Production (E&Ps) opened gap down in morning tracking retreat of global crude, benchmark KSE-100 index weathered the brunt and managed to hover between green and red zone in the first ninety minutes of trading.
“Selling pressure primarily in blue-chips stocks including Lucky Cements (LUCK PA -3.7%), Engro Corp (ENGRO PA -1.5%), Engro Foods (EFOODS PA -0.4%) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO PA -1.4%) pulled benchmark index lower to test 39,675 intraday.
“The KSE-100 index however recovered on the back of selective interest with United Bank Limited (UBL PA +1%), National Refinery Limted (NRL PA +5%), Pak Suzuki (PSMC PA +4.9%), International Steels Limited (ISL PA +5%) and ICI Pakistan (ICI PA +4.6%) mainly supporting the ride,” said the report.
JS Global analyst Ahmad Saeed Khan said volatility prevailed as the index juggled between -125 and +60 points to finally close on a flattish level, obliterating all hopes of the PSX breaking the psychological level of 40,000 points.
“The banking sector rally lost its intensity as most banks were only marginally positive with excitement of CPI and Monetary policy fading away. Top index movers of the sector on Tuesday were UBL (+0.98%) and ABL (+0.72%).
“PSMC (+4.92%) rallied on back of news that company has increased prices of its variants to the tune of Rs20,000-44,000 in response to the appreciating Yen.
“The oil sector remained depressed as global crude oil prices tumbled again on the back of increase reported in US oil rigs count despite inventory levels being the highest in almost two decades. Biggest laggards of the aforementioned sector were PPL (-1.58%) and PSO (-1.43%).”
Trade volumes rose to 226 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 204 million.
Shares of 375 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 203 stocks closed higher, 147 declined while 25 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.5 billion.
Dewan Cement was the volume leader with 29.7 million shares gaining Rs0.81 to finish at Rs16.94. It was followed by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines with 20.8 million shares gaining Rs1.50 to close at Rs45.70 and TRG Pakistan Limited with 13.3 million shares gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs35.86.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs290 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2016.