Market watch: Dull trading persists as KSE-100 falls slightly

Benchmark index loses 38.09 points to settle at 39,907.32

KARACHI: For quite some time, the stock market has been following a very dull trading pattern. Owing to lack of positive triggers and general state of uncertainty, range-bound and lacklustre trading has become a norm.

Most investors are content on sitting on the sidelines and monitor political and economic developments.

In line with the trend, the KSE-100 Index opened positive and after trading in a narrow range it closed with thin losses.

At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index registered a decrease of 38.09 points or 0.10% to settle at 39,907.32.

According to Elixir Securities, Pakistan equities stood little changed and turnover in the wider market again painted a dreary picture as just about $37 million worth of shares changed hands on the KSE All-share Index.

"The day kicked off flat with little activity in the wider market which hovered near Tuesday's close," stated Elixir.



Afterwards, sharp losses in Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL, -4.7%) and Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco, -5%) dragged the KSE-100 Index to the 39,800 support level.

SNGPL was on the sellers' radar due to concerns over proposed downward revision in tariff by the oil and gas regulator while Kapco tanked on heavy selling reportedly from domestic institutional investors amid concerns over the power plant's continuity of operations as the government was planning to shut down old plants.

"[We] expect a directionless market as the ongoing trading pattern may hold sway in coming days on lack of interest and immediate triggers," the report added.

JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said the KSE-100 Index predominantly remained range bound throughout the day as the index hit a high of +117 points against a low of -120 points. It eventually closed down at 39,907 points.



Top gainers were Orix Leasing Pakistan (+2.85%), National Foods (+2.79%) and Pakistan Tobacco (+2.32%) while Kapco (-4.98%) and SNGPL (-4.72%) were among major losers. In the exploration and production sector, Pakistan Oilfields (+0.86%), Pakistan Petroleum (+0.89%) and Oil and Gas Development Company (+0.54%) closed positive. Moreover, mixed sentiments were seen in the fertiliser sector where Engro Fertilizers (+1.56%) and Engro Corp (+0.44%) moved up whereas Fauji Ferilizer Bin Qasim (-0.28%) fell.

"Moving forward, we expect the market to remain under pressure and recommend investors to remain cautious," Ladhani said.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 149 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 147 million.

Shares of 361 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 180 stocks closed higher, 166 declined while 15 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.9 billion.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 24.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs3.19. It was followed by Japan Power with 19.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.53 to close at Rs2.81 and K-Electric with 15.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.09 to close at Rs6.64.