Market watch: Profit-taking wipes off intra-day gains

KSE-100 Index finishes with just a one-point increase on Monday

KARACHI: All intra-day gains were wiped off as profit-booking took over, meaning that the benchmark-100 index ended almost flat after a nearly 400-point gain on Monday.

Textile stocks were in the limelight as reports of a package announcement gained momentum. There was mixed activity among other sectors with volumes picking up, but gains remaining limited.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a rise of 0.002% or 1.18 points to end at 49,039.41.

Market watch: In a first, index finishes over 49,000

Elixir Securities analyst Ali Raza said equities settled just one point higher as morning gains that sent benchmark KSE100 Index to a new all-time high succumbed to late-day profit booking.

“Market opened higher with index names carrying momentum and textiles leading early gains,” said Raza.

“Notably, Nishat Mills (NML,-0.7%), Nishat Chunnian (NCL, +2.2%), Gul Ahmed Textile Mills (GATM,+2.7%) all opened gap up over excitement of an expected announcement of a much-awaited relief package, however, sector pared gains later in the day as the wider market witnessed profit-taking.

“Other major sectors namely cement and financials closed the day mixed, while exploration and production ending in red as investors tracked intra-day losses by global crude,” said Raza.

JS Global analyst Nabeel Haroon said the market opened on a positive note as the index rallied to make an intraday high of 49,439 but came under selling pressure.

“Textile sector continued to garner investors' interest on the back of news that Prime Minster may announce a Rs75-billion package for six major export oriented sectors on Tuesday, where textile sector is expected to be the main beneficiary of the export package.

“Exploration and production sector lost value to close in the red zone as crude oil prices failed to sustain above $54/bbl level. This decline was on the increase in US drilling activity that is offsetting the planned output cut by OPEC members.

“Oil and Gas Development Company (-1.19%) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (-0.67%) were the major index movers from the aforementioned sector,” said Haroon.

Weekly review: Index ends 2017’s first week at record high

Trading volumes rose to 492 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 430 million.

Shares of 437 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 263 stocks closed higher, 162 declined while 12 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs20.8 billion.

Dost Steels Limited was the volume leader with 33.7 million shares, losing Rs0.11 to finish at Rs14.15. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 27.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.64 to close at Rs9.87 and B.O Punjab with 22.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.24 to close at Rs18.11.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs689 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs689 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.