Market watch: Foreigners continue to sell, but KSE-100 gains amid low volume

Benchmark index increases 176.39 points to close at 43,539.60

KARACHI: The stock market witnessed subdued activity on Monday, as the absence of positive triggers and continued selling by foreign investors dampened sentiment.

However, there was some interest in index-heavy stocks, which pushed the KSE-100 Index to close in the green on the opening day of the week. Chronic political uncertainty also continued to play its part in keeping institutional investors away as volumes on the all-share index witnessed a massive decline.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded an increase of 176.39 points or 0.41% to settle at 43,539.60.



JS Research analyst Maaz Mulla said the market witnessed a lacklustre session, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index swinging in a band of around 300 points.

Traded volumes decreased by 40% day-on-day to 116 million shares in the trading session while value traded decreased to $47 million. Most of the dull activity can be attributed to political uncertainty and lack of positive triggers.

Major contribution to total market volumes came from LOTCHEM (+3.40%), NRSL (+9.57%) and FFL (+3.48%) constituting 36 million shares out of the total.

“Monday’s major contribution to the index came from OGDC (+2.31%), MCB (+2.13%) and ENGRO (+1.89%) contributing +123 points to the index. On the flipside, major laggards of the index were HBL (-1.36%), PPL (-1.06%) and BAFL (-0.16%) contributing -65 points to the index,” Mulla said.



In the banking space, HBL declared its 2017 result, where the company posted an EPS of Rs5.38, registering a 77% year-on-year decline on the back of Rs23 billion penalties booked during 3Q2017. The bank also announced an unexpected final cash dividend of Rs1.0 per share, taking 2017 dividend to Rs8.0/share.

PSMC (+3.95%) from the auto sector declared its CY17 result, where the company posted an EPS of Rs46.49 per share and a final cash payout of Rs18.60 per share which fell in-line with our expectations.

“Moving forward, we expect the market to depict a similar trend and recommend investors to see any upside in the market as an opportunity to sell,” Mulla added.

Overall, shares of 369 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 188 stocks closed higher, 166 declined while 15 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.25 billion.



Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 20.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.34 to close at Rs10.35. It was followed by Nimir Resins with 9.49 million shares, gaining Rs0.97 to close at Rs11.11 and Fauji Foods with 6.04 million shares, gaining Rs1.00 to close at Rs29.74.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs473.6 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.