Market watch: KSE-100's positive run ends as profit-taking kicks in

Benchmark index loses 79.38 points to close at 45,004.19

KARACHI: Stocks succumbed to profit-taking on Tuesday, ending the KSE-100's five-day winning streak as late selling pressure dragged the index into the red.

A positive start saw the index climb over 200 points in intra-day trading before investors opted to book gains in the absence of positive triggers.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index finished with a decrease of 79.38 points or 0.18% to settle at 45,004.19.

Elixir Securities' analyst Muhammad Arbash said equities closed lower with benchmark KSE-100 Index settling slightly abover 45,000.

He said the market opened on a dreary note and witnessed a range-bound trading session as investors looked for positive triggers.



"Highlight of the day was K-Electric (+3.6%) that witnessed robust activity, accounting for nearly 30% of total volume on the KSE-100 Index, as Shanghai Electric Power company submitted fresh public announcement of its intention to acquire 66.4% stake in the company.

"Among mainboards, E&Ps (-0.9%) and financials (-0.7%) witnessed profit-taking, cements (+0.2%) closed on a mixed note while fertilisers traded higher on urea and DAP sales figures for February.



"We expect the market to consolidate and trade range-bound in a 300-400 point range. The upcoming monetary policy announcement, news flow on amnesty scheme and new exchange products (ETF) will keep investor interest intact in the market," he added.

Overall, trading volumes increased to 235.6 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 187.9 million.

Shares of 378 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 163 stocks closed higher, 190 declined while 25 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.4 billion.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 30.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.23 to close at Rs6.57. It was followed by Fauji Foods Ltd with 16.1 million shares, losing Rs0.79 to close at Rs34.94 and Engro PolymerXD with 9.8 million shares, losing Rs0.04 to close at Rs32.56.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs200.5 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.