Market watch: Stocks undergo volatile session as KSE-100 ends 0.6% lower

Benchmark index falls 265.58 points to close at 44,551.13

KARACHI: The stock market endured a tumultuous session on the last trading day of the week, as the index dipped massively in the early hours of trading, before managing a substantial recovery.

However, despite the support, the KSE-100 ended its second successive session in the red.

At close, the KSE-100 Index ended with a decrease of 265.58 points or 0.59% to finish at 44,551.13 points.

The dip was widely anticipated as investors chose to book profits coinciding with a negative review on Pakistan's economy. Stocks across the board witnessed selling pressure with index-heavy bank, cement and oil shares bearing the brunt of profit-booking.

The KSE-100 index plunged as much as 629 points in intra-day trading, hitting a low of 44,196.57 points. However, later, investors took to buying stocks, which helped the market gain some ground.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the KSE-100 index witnessed a choppy session on the last day of futures rollover.



"Strong volumes in KEL were witnessed as investors' confidence on the company increased on the back of market news of Shanghai Electric to take over K-Electric soon," Mulla added.

LUCK (-1.22%) from the cement sector announced its result for 1HFY18, where the company posted an EPS of Rs20.25 per share. Banking space led the decline at the bourse, cumulatively contributing 225 points to the index. HBL (-3.25%), MCB (-1.42%), UBL (-3.54%) and FABL (-1.55%) lost value to close in the red.

FFBL (-3.30%) from the fertiliser sector announced its 2017 result, where the company posted an EPS of Rs1.08 per share and also announced final cash payout of Rs0.75/share. Moreover, crude oil prices edged higher in the international market, where OGDC (+0.81%) and PPL (+0.74%) from the E&P sector gained to close in the green zone.

"Moving forward, we expect the market to continue its positive trend and recommend investors to book profits on strength," he commented.



Overall, trading volume increased to 271 million shares, compared with Thursday's tally of 245 million.

Shares of 357 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 149 stocks closed higher, 179 declined while 29 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.2 billion.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 39.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.11 to close at Rs6.89. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 19.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.09 to close at Rs9.94 and Azgard Nine with 19.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.47 to close at Rs15.17.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs57 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.