Market watch: KSE-100 snaps winning streak in lacklustre session

Benchmark index edges down 37.54 points to settle at 36,765.56

KARACHI: The KSE-100 index snapped an eight-day winning streak and edged down 38 points on Tuesday amid a lacklustre trading session. In the previous eight sessions, the index had managed to gain 3,041 points.

Trading remained range bound and mixed performance was seen due to a lack of triggers that could provide direction to the market. Excitement over a positive review of Pakistan's economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the MSCI announcement that kept Pakistan in the MSCI Emerging Market Index, subsided during the day.

Earlier, trading began with a sharp spike but gains were erased soon and the market traded in a narrow band for the rest of the day. In the dying moments of the session, investors offloaded their holdings, which dragged the index into the negative zone.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 37.54 points, or 0.1%, to settle at 36,765.56.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that after advancing 368 points earlier in the day, the KSE-100 index fell victim to the bearish spell and saw the erosion of gains later, ending the session with a loss of 58 points (unadjusted).

"The cement sector that contributed to most of the trading volume remained in the green for most part of the session, but saw selling activity in Lucky Cement," it said.

On the whole, banking, fertiliser and chemical sectors largely remained negative and they were later joined by exploration and production and oil marketing companies, which endured selling pressure by the end of the session.

The cement sector led the volumes with trading in 44.6 million shares, followed by the technology sector (33.4 million) and chemical sector (28.1 million).

Among individual stocks, Unity Foods recorded trading in 16.2 million shares, followed by Pak Elektron (16.1 million) and TRG Pakistan (14.6 million), the report said.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said stocks closed negative following range-bound activity as the index touched intra-day low and high of -131 points and +368 points respectively.

"The market started on a positive note but later traded sideways, eventually closing in the red zone," he said.

On the news front, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman indicated that the "struggle" would continue till the ouster of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and asked his followers to be prepared for Plan-B.

Traded value stood at $64 million, up 10% and volumes came in at 292 million shares, up 3% compared to Monday's trading session.

The cement sector closed higher where DG Khan Cement (+3.6%), Pioneer Cement (+4.7%), Cherat Cement (+4.9%) and Maple Leaf Cement (+0.8%) remained in the positive territory.

The steel sector also enjoyed the upward trend where International Steels (+3.3%), Amreli Steels (+5%) and Mughal Steel (+5%) went up amid heavy trading in the stocks.

"Moreover, we expect the market to remain positive but recommend investors to book profit on strength in the short term," the analyst added.

Overall, trading volumes increased to 292.1 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 282.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10 billion.

Shares of 381 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 195 stocks closed higher, 173 declined and 13 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods XD was the volume leader with 16.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.17 to close at Rs11.18. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 16.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.2 to close at Rs20.72 and TRG Pakistan with 14.6 million shares, gaining Re1 to close at Rs19.46.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs190.4 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.