Index heavyweight financials and oils down as volumes remain low. PHOTO:FILE
The KSE 100-share Index opened positive, climbing 150 points to touch an intra-day high at 47,241.17 points, but it struggled to sustain the momentum and fell slightly.
Before the mid-day break, the index surged again to touch 47,200 points, but could not cross the threshold. In the later session, the KSE-100 began to descend and ended down 206.97 points.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a fall of 0.44% to finish the day at 46,877.37.
Elixir Securities, in its report, stated Pakistan equities closed lower after the benchmark index struggled to break past the 47,200 resistance level.
“The market opened sideways and stocks mostly witnessed range-bound activity as institutional interest in mainboard names remained restricted,” stated the report.
Nearly 60% of the contribution came from just three sideboards namely The Bank of Punjab (+0.1%), The Resource Group (-3.6%) and K-Electric (-1.7%) on retail interest.
On the leaders’ board, Engro Fertilizers (+3.8%) occupied the top slot after the company announced a pay-out that surprised investors despite earnings staying below analysts’ estimates.
Market watch: KSE-100 crosses 47,000 points with thin gains
Meanwhile, a gas discovery notification issued by Oil and Gas Development Company (-1%) failed to have any impact on the stock’s performance that tracked the sector’s bearish trend due to lower global crude prices.
“(We) expect institutional flows to mainly guide direction of the index next week. Locals will continue cherry-picking and absorb foreign selling while excitement over earnings and pay-outs will likely keep activity on the higher side,” Elixir added.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the market remained positive during initial hours of the day and hit an intra-day high of +157 points. However, it turned negative to close at 46,877 , down 207 points, as profit-booking was witnessed in the last 90 minutes of the trading session.
“MCB Bank (-1.36%), National Bank (-0.29%) and United Bank (-0.69%) from the commercial banking sector shed points due to profit-taking by investors, cumulatively erasing 39 points from the KSE-100 index,” said Mulla.
OGDC (-0.95%) and Pakistan Oilfields (-1.08%) lost points as oil moved lower on concerns over rising production.
Market watch: KSE-100 advances, ends few points shy of 47,000
Engro Fertilizers (+3.45%) from the fertiliser sector gained as the fertiliser company announced its 1H2017 results. It posted earnings of Rs3.07 per share and announced dividend of Rs2.5 per share.
The steel sector also lost points due to selling pressure. International Steels (-1.46%), Amreli Steels (-1.29%) and Dost Steels (-1.04%) were losers in the sector.
“Going forward, we expect positivity in the market and recommend investors to accumulate value stocks at lower levels,” the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes fell to 346 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 455 million.
Shares of 407 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 173 stocks closed higher, 211 declined while 23 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs13.4 billion.
The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 41.9 million shares, losing Rs0.02 to close at Rs11.89. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 25.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.27 to close at Rs16.20 and Aisha Steel Mills with 23.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.62 to close at Rs23.90.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs621 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
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