Market watch : Stocks drop further as investors remain cautious

Oil and gas sector earnings fail to increase interest.

KARACHI:

The equities market experienced yet another muted session on Tuesday as investors were reluctant to invest, fearing further selling after Monday’s foreign outflows.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index fell 0.65 per cent or 75.55 points to close at 11,599.28 points.

The market completely brushed aside good news on the economic front, after exports increased 41 per cent last month and the current account reflected a $99 million surplus in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, said Elixir Securities analyst Sara Shahid.

Additionally, a change in the hierarchy of state-run oil and gas companies, due to their failure to avert the energy crisis, and uncertainty over the release of next tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s $11.3 billion aid package dampened investor sentiment.

Textiles failed to attract investment despite news that the sector’s exports increased by 30 per cent in nine months due to higher product prices.

National Refinery closed in the red despite posting earnings per share of Rs60.6, gaining a massive 146 per cent compared with last year, as margins continued to rise. Pakistan Oilfields lost ground despite posting earnings per share of Rs33.14, a 40 per cent increase over the same period last year, on the back of rising international oil prices.

Trade volumes remained thin, though they marginally rose to 56.3 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 47.27 million shares.

Shahid added that corporate result announcements were unlikely to attract investors and expected the market to remain range-bound. However, buying in banking and oil sector stocks may be witnessed if the index slips further.

Shares of 360 companies were traded on Tuesday. At the end of the day, 97 stocks closed higher, 157 declined and 106 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs2.85 billion.

Arif Habib Corporation was the volume leader with 5.91 million shares, gaining Rs1.03 to close at Rs24.55. It was followed by Pace (Pak) with 3.36 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs3.19 and Jahangir Siddiqui and Company with 3.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.15 to close at Rs7.23.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th,  2011.