Market watch: Bears return to bourse as KSE-100 sheds 22 points
Benchmark index decreases 0.06% to close at 37,673.25 points
Benchmark index decreases 0.06% to close at 37,673.25 points. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI:
After a day's respite, the benchmark KSE-100 index once again entered the negative territory on Wednesday, shedding 22 points in volatile trading.
A fall in Asian markets, coupled with declining crude oil prices, took its toll on Pakistan market as investor sentiment weakened.
Furthermore, there was uncertainty among investors ahead of the upcoming monetary policy announcement on March 17 for the next two months.
Reports of higher remittances in February 2020 and falling energy prices, however, supported banking, auto and cement stocks.
In the morning, trading kicked off with a sharp spike and the KSE-100 index maintained the uptrend in the early hours and gained over 600 points. However, the trend could not be sustained and the bourse closed in the red.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 22.50 points, or 0.06%, to settle at 37,673.25.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market opened on a positive note and gained 637 points, but noticed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had signalled a pickup in crude production in April.
"It caused the exploration and production sector to slide, with Pakistan Petroleum trading near previous day's lower circuit breaker," it added.
The cement sector bore the selling pressure due to profit-booking, which caused the index to come down and erase all the gains, closing the session lower by 22 points.
Moreover, the cement sector topped the volumes with trading in 65.6 million shares, followed by banks (22.5 million) and oil and gas marketing companies (18.8 million).
Stocks that contributed positively to the index included HBL (+27 points), UBL (+25 points), Bank AL Habib (+23 points), Bank Alfalah (+16 points) and Searl (+13 points).
Meanwhile, stocks that contributed negatively were Pakistan Petroleum (-14 points), Engro (-11 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company (-11 points), Maple Leaf Cement (-9 points) and Lucky Cement (-9 points).
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said bulls dominated the early hours of trading, however, the index took a turn after profit-booking in the second half.
Major profit-booking was witnessed in the cement sector, where DG Khan Cement (-2.3%), Lucky Cement (-0.8%) and Maple Leaf Cement (-4.4%) were among the major losers.
Exploration and production stocks also lost ground amid market pressure where Pakistan Petroleum (-1%), Pakistan Oilfields (-1%) and Mari Petroleum (-1.4%) closed lower than the previous day.
"Moving ahead, we recommend any major dips in the market should be taken as an opportunity to accumulate value stocks," the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes decreased to 217.6 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 274.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.8 billion.
Shares of 350 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 102 stocks closed higher, 227 declined and 21 remained unchanged.
Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 17.6 million shares, losing Rs1.35 to close at Rs29.39. It was followed by Fauji Cement with 15.98 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs18.47 and Hascol Petroleum with 13.4 million shares, losing Rs0.19 to close at Rs19.11.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs152.75 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
After a day's respite, the benchmark KSE-100 index once again entered the negative territory on Wednesday, shedding 22 points in volatile trading.
A fall in Asian markets, coupled with declining crude oil prices, took its toll on Pakistan market as investor sentiment weakened.
Furthermore, there was uncertainty among investors ahead of the upcoming monetary policy announcement on March 17 for the next two months.
Reports of higher remittances in February 2020 and falling energy prices, however, supported banking, auto and cement stocks.
In the morning, trading kicked off with a sharp spike and the KSE-100 index maintained the uptrend in the early hours and gained over 600 points. However, the trend could not be sustained and the bourse closed in the red.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 22.50 points, or 0.06%, to settle at 37,673.25.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market opened on a positive note and gained 637 points, but noticed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had signalled a pickup in crude production in April.
"It caused the exploration and production sector to slide, with Pakistan Petroleum trading near previous day's lower circuit breaker," it added.
The cement sector bore the selling pressure due to profit-booking, which caused the index to come down and erase all the gains, closing the session lower by 22 points.
Moreover, the cement sector topped the volumes with trading in 65.6 million shares, followed by banks (22.5 million) and oil and gas marketing companies (18.8 million).
Stocks that contributed positively to the index included HBL (+27 points), UBL (+25 points), Bank AL Habib (+23 points), Bank Alfalah (+16 points) and Searl (+13 points).
Meanwhile, stocks that contributed negatively were Pakistan Petroleum (-14 points), Engro (-11 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company (-11 points), Maple Leaf Cement (-9 points) and Lucky Cement (-9 points).
JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said bulls dominated the early hours of trading, however, the index took a turn after profit-booking in the second half.
Major profit-booking was witnessed in the cement sector, where DG Khan Cement (-2.3%), Lucky Cement (-0.8%) and Maple Leaf Cement (-4.4%) were among the major losers.
Exploration and production stocks also lost ground amid market pressure where Pakistan Petroleum (-1%), Pakistan Oilfields (-1%) and Mari Petroleum (-1.4%) closed lower than the previous day.
"Moving ahead, we recommend any major dips in the market should be taken as an opportunity to accumulate value stocks," the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes decreased to 217.6 million shares compared with Tuesday's tally of 274.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.8 billion.
Shares of 350 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 102 stocks closed higher, 227 declined and 21 remained unchanged.
Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 17.6 million shares, losing Rs1.35 to close at Rs29.39. It was followed by Fauji Cement with 15.98 million shares, gaining Rs0.05 to close at Rs18.47 and Hascol Petroleum with 13.4 million shares, losing Rs0.19 to close at Rs19.11.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs152.75 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.