Market watch: High oil prices remain only stimulant in lacklustre trading

Benchmark KSE-100 Index gains marginally to settle at 41,049.22

KARACHI: The stock market experienced lacklustre trading on Tuesday with higher global crude oil prices being the major and only attraction for investors.

Political turbulence continued to play its role in an increasingly bearish market as most key sectors closed in the red because of a dearth of buyers.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index registered a slight increase of 18.45 points or 0.04% to settle at 41,049.22.

According to Elixir Securities, Pakistan equities closed little changed after range-bound and lacklustre trading.

The market opened positive when oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies provided the initial push as investors tracked overnight gains in global crude.

Pakistan Oilfields (POL, +1.1%) led gains in the sector after it emerged as the biggest beneficiary of a hydrocarbon discovery announced during the day compared to its peers with estimated earnings per share impact of Rs2.

Another highlight was Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC, +5%) that hit its upper price limit as investors expected release of higher monthly sales data for October 2017.

Apart from the E&P sector, other key sectors and sideboards could not perform and ended mostly in the red as volatile political environment and no immediate positive triggers restricted participation from institutions and high net-worth individuals.

“We see range-bound trading continuing in the near term while institutional flows will remain key to a sustained upside move in the days ahead,” the report added.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 106 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 75.4 million.

Shares of 358 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 132 stocks closed higher, 202 declined while 24 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.5 billion.

Japan Power was the volume leader with 25.09 million shares, losing Rs0.37 to close at Rs1.28. It was followed by Sui South Gas with 7.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs0.19 and TRG Pakistan with 6.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs32.19.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs84 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.