Market watch: Sliding KSE-100 finds resistance at 41,000, ends in the green
Benchmark index gains 90.57 points to close at 41,323.65
Stock exchange. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
The stock market seemed to have met its resistance level as it did not fell further and registered a reasonable recovery on Wednesday.
The KSE-100 index opened negative, but resisted the decline below 41,000 points and shot up 500 points from its intra-day low to 41,558 points. The index continued to oscillate between the red and green zones, but finished the session positive.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 90.57 points or 0.22% at 41,323.65 points.
Elixir Securities, in its report, stated Pakistan equities stood slightly higher in a range-bound and lacklustre session with the benchmark index trading in a range of 500 points.
Habib Bank (HBL, -5%) continued to ruffle investors' feathers by hitting the third consecutive lower limit and trading at 14% discount to Wednesday's closing price in off-market deals.
About 3.9 million shares changed hands in off-market trade with most volumes going through at Rs155 per share.
Major sectors including cement along with select index names registered a modest bounce back during the day, albeit on lower volumes. However, most of them ended with trimmed gains on profit-taking.
Market watch: Downslide continues as HBL dampens investors' mood
DG Khan Cement (+5%) remained strong and reached near its upper price limit on reported institutional buying.
"We see the market holding ground near current levels and edging up on Thursday, however, turnover and interest are likely to improve only after long Eid holidays," the report added.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said investors showed bullish sentiments for most part of the day as the market hit an intra-day high of +325 points, but it closed up 90 points.
In spite of HBL (-5%) weighing the KSE-100 down by 143 points and opening limit down, favourable contribution from other sectors resulted in a positive close.
Positivity came from the cement sector on the back of improved provisional off-take numbers. Kohat Cement (+4.83%), Maple Leaf Cement (+5%), Cherat Cement (+4.12%) and DG Khan Cement (+4.95%) were among major gainers.
"Oil prices slid lower as ongoing disruptions caused by tropical storm Harvey continued. Mari Petroleum (-4.53%) and Pakistan Petroleum (-0.54%) were major losers of the sector," said Mulla.
Market watch: Weak HBL, Mari stocks drag market down
Hascol (+0.17%) from the oil marketing sector declared its results for 1H2017, where the company posted earnings per share of Rs6.45 and interim dividend of Rs3.50 per share.
"Moving forward, we expect volatility to persist in the near future and recommend investors to sell on strength," Mulla added.
Overall, trading volumes rose to 132 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 130 million.
Shares of 358 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 203 stocks closed higher, 140 declined while 15 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.1 billion.
TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 20 million shares, losing Rs0.60 to close at Rs33.87. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 18.9 million shares, losing Rs0.55 to close at Rs13.34 and The Bank of Punjab with 8.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.46 to close at Rs9.60.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs673 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
The stock market seemed to have met its resistance level as it did not fell further and registered a reasonable recovery on Wednesday.
The KSE-100 index opened negative, but resisted the decline below 41,000 points and shot up 500 points from its intra-day low to 41,558 points. The index continued to oscillate between the red and green zones, but finished the session positive.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 90.57 points or 0.22% at 41,323.65 points.
Elixir Securities, in its report, stated Pakistan equities stood slightly higher in a range-bound and lacklustre session with the benchmark index trading in a range of 500 points.
Habib Bank (HBL, -5%) continued to ruffle investors' feathers by hitting the third consecutive lower limit and trading at 14% discount to Wednesday's closing price in off-market deals.
About 3.9 million shares changed hands in off-market trade with most volumes going through at Rs155 per share.
Major sectors including cement along with select index names registered a modest bounce back during the day, albeit on lower volumes. However, most of them ended with trimmed gains on profit-taking.
Market watch: Downslide continues as HBL dampens investors' mood
DG Khan Cement (+5%) remained strong and reached near its upper price limit on reported institutional buying.
"We see the market holding ground near current levels and edging up on Thursday, however, turnover and interest are likely to improve only after long Eid holidays," the report added.
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said investors showed bullish sentiments for most part of the day as the market hit an intra-day high of +325 points, but it closed up 90 points.
In spite of HBL (-5%) weighing the KSE-100 down by 143 points and opening limit down, favourable contribution from other sectors resulted in a positive close.
Positivity came from the cement sector on the back of improved provisional off-take numbers. Kohat Cement (+4.83%), Maple Leaf Cement (+5%), Cherat Cement (+4.12%) and DG Khan Cement (+4.95%) were among major gainers.
"Oil prices slid lower as ongoing disruptions caused by tropical storm Harvey continued. Mari Petroleum (-4.53%) and Pakistan Petroleum (-0.54%) were major losers of the sector," said Mulla.
Market watch: Weak HBL, Mari stocks drag market down
Hascol (+0.17%) from the oil marketing sector declared its results for 1H2017, where the company posted earnings per share of Rs6.45 and interim dividend of Rs3.50 per share.
"Moving forward, we expect volatility to persist in the near future and recommend investors to sell on strength," Mulla added.
Overall, trading volumes rose to 132 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 130 million.
Shares of 358 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 203 stocks closed higher, 140 declined while 15 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.1 billion.
TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 20 million shares, losing Rs0.60 to close at Rs33.87. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 18.9 million shares, losing Rs0.55 to close at Rs13.34 and The Bank of Punjab with 8.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.46 to close at Rs9.60.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs673 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.