Market watch: Bourse carries previous negative momentum in dull trading

Benchmark index loses 191.86 points, settles at 41,291.68

KARACHI: The stock market continued to lose its momentum on Tuesday as negativity of a day earlier spilt over into the fresh session, primarily because of a lack of buyers.

The drop comes after massive gains last week which helped the index hit the highest-ever weekly growth in terms of points.

After opening negative and sliding almost 500 points, the market recorded some recovery around midday due to cherry-picking of select index names by local institutional investors.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index registered a decrease of 191.86 points or 0.46% to finish at 41,291.68.

Elixir Securities, in its report, stated Pakistan equities closed the second consecutive session lower despite buying in late hours that helped pare morning losses.

“The wider market activity remained dry as was evident from the flattish volumes on benchmark indices. The market opened negative and traded lower from the beginning as stocks skidded, carrying negativity from the previous session, and dragged down KSE-100 index below the 41,000 support intra-day,” Elixir said.

Nearly all key sectors finished lower due to lacklustre trading, however, select index names across financial, textile and oil sectors saw an uptick in activity in late trading reportedly on cherry-picking by local institutions.



Engro Fertilizers (+2.7%) gathered interest and saw volumes of over three million shares after its result announcement where earnings were in line with street expectations while the dividend of Rs3 per share beat estimates.

Meanwhile, Maple Leaf Cement (-0.4%) also recovered by over 1% after the company reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings.

“(We) expect the market to hover and consolidate above 41,000 points as earnings-related excitement is likely to face headwinds from the noise on political front and uncertain institutional flows,” the report added.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said bears dominated the bourse for most of the day as KSE-100 lost 192 points.

"TRG (+1.65%) led the volumes chart with 20 million shares changing hands. Engro Fertilizers and Fatima Fertilizer declared their results where Engro (+2.73%) posted earnings per share of Rs2.11 for 3Q2017 and announced cash payout of Rs3 per share whereas Fatima (-0.42%) posted earnings per share of Rs1.13 for 3Q2017 with no payout," Mulla said.

Overall, the cement sector closed negative where heavyweights including DG Khan Cement (-1.69%), Fauji Cement (-4.51%), Cherat Cement (-0.92%) and Pioneer Cement (-4.34%) were the major victims. A rally was witnessed in the steel sector on the back of imposition of anti-dumping duty on imported re-bars by the National Tariff Commission. Aisha Steel Mills (+4.55%), Amreli Steels (+2.21%) and International Steels (+0.92%) closed positive.



The oil and gas exploration and production sector stood higher as crude oil prices edged up in the global market. Pakistan Oilfields (+1.80%) and Pakistan Petroleum (+0.33%) were  major gainers of the sector.

"Investors are recommended to trade in main board stocks and take long-term positions to benefit from the undervalued stocks," Mulla added.

Overall, trading volumes fell to 143 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 153 million.

Shares of 366 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 135 stocks closed higher, 219 declined while 12 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.74 billion.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 19.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.58 to close at Rs35.80. It was followed by Aisha Steel Mills with 15.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.87 to close at Rs20 and Dost Steels with 7.8 million shares, losing Rs0.09 to close at Rs13.64.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs100 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.