Market watch: KSE-100 rises 109 points in range bound session

Benchmark index gains 0.25% to settle at 43,360.19

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s stock market saw muted activity on Wednesday as the KSE-100 index traded in a narrow range throughout the day and closed up by 109 points.

Though the selling pressure that emerged in final hours of trading a day ago seemed to be easing, still a handful of sectors closed with losses. Many stocks in automobile and cement sectors faced heavy sell-off.

Earlier, the day kicked off on a positive note, however, volatility emerged immediately afterwards and erased the gains. Strong investor sentiment managed to lift the index again but a lack of positive triggers capped gains.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 109.35 points, or 0.25%, to settle at 43,360.19 points.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that there was some respite from Tuesday’s across-the-board profit-booking with the exploration and production and fertiliser sectors taking charge of the index.

International crude oil prices inched up further, which helped Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields performed well. On the other hand, fertiliser stocks took cue from a recent uptick in urea offtake.

Cement, technology and refinery stocks, which had led the recent growth in KSE-100 from the low of 39,500 points, faced consistent profit-booking and kept the index’s growth in check.

Although the index added a total of 305 points during the session, the last half hour brought the index down, which closed up by 109 points, the report said.

JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said the benchmark KSE-100 index closed positive by 109 points at 43,360 after a range bound session when it traded between +305 and -67 points.

The market remained mixed as investors booked profit at higher levels. Selling pressure was seen in cement and refinery sectors.

In the cement sector, Lucky Cement (-0.7%), DG Khan Cement (-2.1%) and Maple Leaf Cement (-2.3%) lost ground after an inquiry report of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) revealed cartelisation in the sector.

Top contributors to the total volume were TRG Pakistan (+0.5%), Pakistan Refinery (-1.4%), Hascol Petroleum (-3.4%), Byco (-6.9%), Azgard Nine (+3.7%), NetSol (+0.5%) and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim (-2.9%) with a cumulative 148 million shares changing hands.

Moreover, Oil and Gas Development Company (+3.6%), Systems Limited (+7.5%), Engro (+1.7%), Pakistan Petroleum (+1.9%), Bank AL Habib (+1.9%) and Meezan Bank (+1.2%) were the top movers, adding 200 points to the index.

“Moving forward, we expect the market to remain bullish and recommend investors to buy on dips,” the analyst said.

Overall, trading volumes plunged to 433 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 702.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs21.4 billion.

Shares of 403 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 171 stocks closed higher, 212 declined and 20 remained unchanged.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 29.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.4 to close at Rs73.95. It was followed by Pakistan Refinery with 28.2 million shares, losing Rs0.29 to close at Rs21 and Hascol Petroleum with 22.9 million shares, losing Rs0.54 to close at Rs15.14.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs335.5 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.