Market watch: Stocks fail to sustain gains as investors book profit

Benchmark index falls 130.81 points to settle at 38,921.69

KARACHI: The stock market on Wednesday failed to sustain the substantial gains made in the previous two sessions and endured a bearish spell as investors' delight over the UAE support package subsided and volatility emerged.

The KSE-100 shed 131 points amid uncertainty, which dragged the index below the 39,000 mark.

Earlier, trading began on a positive note and the index climbed 200 points in early hours. However, absence of positive triggers and rising uncertainty led to offloading of shares by the investors.

Most of the automobile, fertiliser and cement stocks closed in the red while the exploration and production (E&P) sector was entirely in the black.



At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 130.81 points or 0.33% to settle at 38,921.69.

Elixir Securities' analyst Murtaza Jafar said equities closed in the red at 38,922 amid a choppy trading session.

"The day kicked off on a positive note with the index hitting an intra-day high of 39,267, however it nudged its way back in midday trade," he said. "Profit-taking was witnessed in cement and financial stocks while the E&P sector managed to close in the black."

Pakistan Oilfields (+3.27%) continued to attract investors' interest on the back of rising global crude oil prices.

Major volumes were once again recorded in retail plays such as Pak Elektron (+2.38%), Unity Foods (-3.95%), Sui Southern Gas Company (+4.06%) and TRG Pakistan (-0.16%). The four stocks cumulatively contributed nearly 54 million shares to the regular market.

The corrective move allowed short-term holders to unwind their positions from overbought levels, which meant that momentum-based traders could begin to look for new buying opportunities around 38,600-500 support levels, the analyst added.



Overall, trading volumes decreased to 133.8 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 166.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.8 billion.

Shares of 336 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 104 stocks closed higher, 212 declined and 20 remained unchanged.

Pak Elektron was the volume leader with 25.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.64 to close at Rs27.55. It was followed by Unity Foods with 11.7 million shares, losing Rs1.07 to close at Rs25.99 and Sui Southern Gas Company with 9 million shares, gaining Rs0.99 to close at Rs25.35.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs66.03 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.