Market watch: KSE-100 records slight pickup amid quarterly results

Benchmark index rises 42.34 points to end at 49,827.51

KARACHI: A slight increase was witnessed at the Pakistan bourse on Wednesday as the KSE 100-share Index inched up a few points with the announcement of quarterly results by scores of companies.

The financials helped maintain investor interest in the market, allowing the miniscule ascent.

At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark index recorded a rise of 42.34 points, or 0.09%, to end at 49,827.51.

According to Elixir Securities' analyst Ali Raza, the market maintained a steady activity as quarterly results kept investor interest intact.

"On the results front, Fauji Fertilizer (-2.6%) closed lower on profit-taking after its results came in line with estimates, while both Cherat Cement (-3.6%) and Kohat Cement (-4%) tanked after their earnings and pay-out significantly missed street estimates, disappointing investors," he said.



Index-heavy Engro Corp (-0.7%) and MCB Bank (-0.1%) managed a decent close after their results came broadly in line with the estimates, he added.

Meanwhile, according to a report of JS Research, a volatile session was witnessed at the bourse as the index traded between an intra-day high of +169 points and intra-day low of -140 points.

"Pak Suzuki Motor Company and Indus Motor Company in the automobile sector garnered investor interest as they once again rose to close at their upper circuits on the back of recent promising 1Q2017 and 9MFY17 result announcements," said analyst Nabeel Haroon.

"Engro Corp slightly lost value as the holding company declared its results for 1Q2017 in which it posted earnings per share (EPS) of Rs5.42 (in line with street consensus) along with cash pay-out of Rs5/share."



Moreover, MCB Bank declined despite posting better-than-expected EPS of Rs5.52 for 1Q2017 along with cash pay-out of Rs4/share.

Cherat Cement (-3.61%) was the major loser in the cement sector despite announcement of good 3QFY17 results, he added.

Overall, trading volumes fell to 323 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 381 million.

Shares of 399 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 168 stocks closed higher and 212 declined while 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs16.8 billion.



Summit Bank was the volume leader with 22.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.21 to close at Rs4.96. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 21.7 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs14.11 and Engro Polymer with 20.2 million shares, losing Rs0.94 to close at Rs28.19.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs179 million during the trading session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.