Market watch: Bulls lose control as investors opt to book profits
Shares of 405 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 99 stocks closed higher. PHOTO: FILE
A highly volatile session at the Pakistan stock market ended on a somewhat dull note as profit-taking remained the order of the day.
The KSE-100 shot up from the moment trading began as the market built on the momentum from the preceding session and managed to cross the 41,000-mark in intra-day trading. Fresh buying, mainly in the exploration and production scrips, helped the index surge 559 points. A rise in oil prices in the international markets coupled with strengthening rupee against the dollar also helped the index maintain bullish momentum briefly.
However, the uptrend did not last long as selling pressure in the second half dragged the index into negative territory. Participants remained wary ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on Gas Infrastructure and Development Cess (GIDC). Although Moody’s report on Pakistani banks’ lent some support to the banking sector, the KSE-100 finished 86 points lower.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 85.97 points, or 0.21%, to settle at 40,473.18 points.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market added a total of 559 points during the session posting a new recent high of 41,119 points, however, selling pressure brought the index below the opening level and closed the session in the red.
Exploration and production, banks, fertiliser sector contributed to an early rise in the index.
“The fertiliser sector felt the heat of Supreme Court’s decision on GIDC, which is scheduled to be announced on Thursday.”
Similarly, Hascol Petroleum saw active trading with almost hitting upper circuit breaker and then lower circuit upon notice of the grant of permanent license as an oil marketing company in place of existing provisional one, it said.
Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index include FFC (+60 points), HUBC (+43 points), NBP (+24 points), UBL (+19 points) and TRG (+13 points). While stocks that contributed negatively include PPL (-16 points), MCB (-16 points), LUCK (-16 points), DAWH (-14 points) and PSO (-14 points).
JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said, “The market remained active in Wednesday's trading session but came under slight pressure in the second half with cement and exploration and production sector being the major shakers today where LUCK (-0.9%), PIOC (-4.1%), CHCC (-2.2%), POL (-0.8%), and PPL (-1.1%) closed in the red zone.”
“Oil in the international market moved higher after US crude inventories fell more than expected.”
“Going forward, we expect the market to remain volatile with intraday corrections expected, recommend investors to sell on strength,” the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes declined to 591.2 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 600 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs22.5 billion.
Shares of 405 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 99 stocks closed higher, 286 declined and 20 remained unchanged.
Hascol Petroleum was the volume leader with 88.4 million shares, losing Rs0.48 to close at Rs15.51. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 36.3 million shares, gaining Rs1.31 to close at Rs49.28 and Pakistan Refinery with 32.3 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs14.84.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs227.2 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.