Market watch: KSE-100 falls due to lack of positive triggers

Benchmark index loses 122.13 points to settle at 37,381.95

KARACHI: The stock market lost some ground on Tuesday due to a lack of positive triggers and weak domestic cues.

Bulls remained on a leash as investors awaited finalisation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package and expected a possible rise in taxes and tariffs to be introduced in the FY20 budget.

At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 122.13 points, or 0.33%, to settle at 37,381.95.



According to JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani, the equities closed on a negative note with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding 122 points at 37,382. The bourse hit a high and low of +132 and -165 points respectively.

Investors opted for profit-taking in the wake of corporate result announcement. In the steel sector, both International Industries Limited (-4.1%) and International Steels (-5%) closed down. The latter reported 9MFY19 earnings per share (EPS) of Rs5.42 with no cash payout.

Mixed sentiments were seen in the cement sector where Lucky Cement (+0.2%) and Fauji Cement (+0.4%) remained in the positive zone while DG Khan Cement (-0.5%) was in the red.

Similarly, among stocks of financial institutions, Habib Bank Limited (HBL, -0.4%) and MCB Bank (-1%) were the major laggards while UBL (+1.3%) closed positive.

Exploration and production companies lost ground among which Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL, -0.1%), Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC, -0.4%) and Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL, -1.2%) fell due to expectations of increase in global oil inventories.

PPL (-0.1%), HBL (-0.4%), OGDC (-0.4%), Engro (-0.4%), MCB Bank (-1%), Bank AL Habib (-0.8%) and POL (-1.2%) were the top stocks that cumulatively struck 68 points off the benchmark index.

The traded value stood at $33 million, down 24%, while the traded volume totalled 140 million shares, down 19%, said the analyst.

Furthermore, major contribution to the total market volume came from Unity Foods (R) (-33%), K-Electric (-1.8%), Pak Elektron (+0.5%), Pioneer Cement (-2.1%) and Maple Leaf Cement (+0.4%).

"The market is expected to remain choppy and volatile in the days ahead. We recommend investors to stay cautious in the short run ahead of IMF meeting," he added.



Overall, trading volumes decreased to 140 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 172 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.7 billion.

Shares of 347 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 137 stocks closed higher, 188 declined and 22 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods (R) was the volume leader with 16.3 million shares, losing Rs0.75 to close at Rs1.54. It was followed by K-Electric with 13.4 million shares, losing Rs0.09 to close at Rs5.01 and Pak Elektron with 13.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.11 to close at Rs23.09.