Market watch: Foreigners buy, but KSE-100 ends fifth session in the red

Benchmark index loses 376.08 points to settle at 42,290.15

KARACHI: The KSE-100 Index succumbed to political noise on Wednesday, ending negative for the fifth successive session with a minor recovery helping stocks at the end of the session.

The KSE-100 began to drop from the word go and maintained a steady decline throughout the day. After a fall of over 550 points in intra-day trading, investors opted to cherry pick at attractive valuations, helping the KSE-100 finish with a minor recovery.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a fall of 376.08 points or 0.88% to stand at 42,290.15.



According to Elixir Securities, Pakistan equities closed lower in another lacklustre session as local politics continued to keep most investors at bay.



“Dismal activity was evident from turnover on benchmark KSE All Index that stood under $52 million, down 35% against this month’s average,” stated Elixir.

“Market opened and traded in the red from the word go as noise on political front due to appearance of country’s finance minister before accountability court on corruption charges and Tuesday’s large foreign institutional selling dented sentiments.

“Most sectors barring fertilisers and select Index names witnessed limited institutional interest and ended in the red. National Bank (NBP PA -5%) closed at the lower limit for the third straight session after adverse decision by apex court in pension liability case; the stock, however, saw good exchange of hands with 2.5 million shares crossing off market at an average price of Rs48/share ie, 8% below previous close.



Meanwhile, Pakistan Oilfields (POL PA -0.4%) notified the exchange after market hours of a hydrocarbon discovery in Attock district; while the size and flow rate has not been disclosed the stock may be in the limelight in the coming sessions.

“We see directionless market trading without any fervour in the near term due to dearth of positive triggers. Locals are expected to closely track foreign institutional activity as any large sell off in the coming days can trigger another round of decline in the market,” the report added.



JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the KSE-100 index witnessed a bear market in Wednesday’s trading session, making an intraday low of -565 points, while closing at 42,290 level, down 376 points.

“This selling pressure in the market was likely on the back of investor scepticism regarding ongoing political scenario in the country,” Mulla remarked.

ENGRO (-2.0%), PPL (-1.9%), NBP (-5.0%), LUCK (-1.6%) and UBL (-1.2%) were among the major laggards that dragged the index down by 140 points cumulatively. Selling pressure was witnessed in the cement sector where most heavyweights closed in the red zone.

On the other hand, PIOC (-0.1%) announced its FY17 result, where the company posted an EPS of Rs12.84/share and announced a final cash payout of Rs3.35/share. A rally was witnessed in the fertiliser sector as fertiliser numbers for the month of August ‘17 showed a growth of 36% YoY. FFC (+2.4%), FATIMA (+1.2%), FFBL (+1.5%) and EFERT (+1.1%) cumulatively contributed +43 points to the index.

“We believe negativity in the market will continue on the back of political uncertainties and concerning economic indicators. Expecting such volatility, we recommend investors to remain cautious unless economic indicators and prevailing political scenario improve,” he added.



Overall, trading volumes rose slightly to 146 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 145 million.

Shares of 382 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 97 stocks closed higher, 264 declined while 21 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.4 billion.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 13.6 million shares, losing Rs0.19 to close at Rs6.75. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 13.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.06 to close at Rs3.54 and Bank of Punjab with 11.7 million shares, losing Rs0.02 to close at Rs9.24.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs479 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2017.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.