Market watch: Index undergoes see-saw ride to end in the red

Benchmark KSE 100-share Index loses 110.14 points

KARACHI: Pakistan equities closed the last day of the week lower after trading volatile in a narrow range with the benchmark KSE-100 Index hopping between green and red for most part of the day.

At close, however, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index finished with a fall of 0.22% or 110.14 points to end at 49,555.83.

According to Elixir Securities, Engro twins came in the limelight and traded higher after Engro Foods (EFOODS PA +1.4%) announced a surprise one-time special dividend of Rs10/share; Engro Corp (ENGRO PA +3.7%) closed up.



“Mari Petroleum (MARI PA +5%) continued its strong bull run and hit upper price limit in early trade on Thursday’s news of planned stake divestment by government, while Pakistan State Oil (PSO PA +0.4%) added to yesterday gains to close at a new record high on earnings excitement ahead of its result announcement due Monday,” said analyst Ali Raza.

“Nishat Mills (NML PA +2%) closed higher and churned most volumes in last three weeks as the company notified investors of venturing into automobile sector by partnering with a South Korean auto manufacturer, Hyundai Motors,” said Raza.



“Hub Power (HUBC PA -1.1%) took a breather after three straight sessions of gains on profit-taking.

“[We] see volatile trading to continue next week with earnings, institutional flows and developments over court proceedings that resume Monday to keep investors interest in wider market alive,” he added.

Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Nabeel Haroon said volatility prevailed in the market as the index traded between an intraday high of +114 points and intraday low of -235 points to finally close at 49,556 level.



“EFOODS (+1.40%) and ENGRO (+3.68%) gained to close in the green zone as the former declared its 2016 result. Even though the EPS of EFOODS was lower than street estimate, one-time special dividend came as a positive surprise for investors.

“ENGRO is set to benefit from the pay-out declared by its subsidiary (EFOODS) as the pay-out would translate into an after tax inflow of Rs5.11/share for the holding company,” said Haroon.

“PIBTL (+2.68%) gained on the back of news that the dry terminal is all set to come online by next month. ISL gained to close on its upper circuit for the third consecutive day of the week on the back of expansion announced by the company.

“In its expansion plan, the company intends to add Cold Rolling Mill and related facilities to its production line, which will take the total cold rolling capacity of the company to 1 million tons per annum,” he commented.



“Moving forward, we recommend investor to stay cautious, however, any major dip in the market should be taken as an opportunity to buy,” said the analyst.

Trading volumes fell to 338 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 447 million.

Shares of 413 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 124 stocks closed higher, 275 declined while 14 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs18.6 billion.

K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 46.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.11 to finish at Rs10.52. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 35.5 million shares, losing Rs0.16 to close at Rs9.45 and TRG Pakistan Limited with 20.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.13 to close at Rs58.76.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs133 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.