Market watch: Range-bound index finally finishes in the red

Benchmark KSE 100-share Index falls 51.69

KARACHI: Lacklustre trading defined the bourse Friday with interest in the cement sector taking a hit after less-than-expected growth in sales for September, leaving the benchmark-100 index range-bound.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 fell 0.13% or 51.69 points to end at 41,200.48.



Oil prices provided some support, closing in on the $50-per-barrel mark to attract interest in the exploration and production sector.

Elixir Securities, in its report, stated that equities closed marginally lower ahead of the weekend with volumes of shares dipping by nearly 40% compared to Thursday.

“A positive open and a range-bound trading in the AM session was followed by mild institutional selling in index names with losses primarily in Lucky Cement (-2.2%), MCB Bank (-1.4%) and Pakistan Petroleum (PPL -1.1%) dragging the benchmark KSE-100 index.

“On the other hand, index heavy Habib Bank (HBL +1.1%) edged up on thin volumes and contributed most to gains followed by Pakistan State Oil (PSO +2.1%) that traded highest since mid-2014 on reported buying interest from local institutions.  “Small and mid-cap plays traded volatile, witnessing limited participation from retail investors, but managed to dominate volumes chart.

“We see volatile trading on Monday with KSE-100 index likely slipping further on muted activity ahead of the two-day holiday next week.”

Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Nabeel Haroon said lacklustre movement was observed at the local bourse as the index continuously juggled between an intraday high of +120 points and intraday low of -128 points.



“Some pressure was witnessed in the cement sector as the cement dispatch numbers released by APCMA for September showed month-on-month decline of 14.70%. Lucky (-2.16%) and Maple Leaf (-0.88%) were major losers of the aforementioned sector.

“Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC +0.51%) and Pakistan Oilfields (POL +1.06%) in the exploration and production sector gained to close in the green zone as crude oil prices traded comfortably above $50 per barrel for most part of the day.

“Treet (-2.22%) lost value to close in the red as the company posted decline in its bottom line in its FY16 result announcement. In its result, the company declared consolidated earnings per share of Rs1.59 along with a final cash dividend of Rs1 per share.”

Trade volumes fell to 463 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 775 million.

Shares of 445 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 218 stocks closed higher, 218 declined while 9 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.3 billion.

Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 47.7 million shares, losing Rs0.15 to finish at 15.55. It was followed by Summit Bank with 40.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.45 to close at Rs4.03 and Sui North Gas with 24.9 million shares, gaining Rs2.28 to close at Rs56.11.Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs329 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2016.

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