Market watch: KSE-100 posts modest gains in choppy trade

Benchmark index advances 90.47 points to settle at 44,857.06

KARACHI:

The stock market extended gains on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index posted a modest rise, finishing its third successive session in the green.

Trading remained choppy for the entire day where the index rose to intra-day high of 144 points. Investors welcomed the growth in large-scale manufacturing sector, which grew 7.9% in the first seven months of current fiscal year.

Moreover, expectations about the monetary policy announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday (March 19) kept the investment climate positive.

Earlier, trading began on a positive note but unfortunately tables turned and the bourse failed to sustain the momentum. The session remained largely volatile where bears and bulls tried to wrestle control of the market.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 90.47 points, or 0.2%, to settle at 44,857.06 points.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market traded in a narrow range after adding a total of 2,500 points to 42,700 points in the last two trading sessions. Leveraged positions continued to cause jitters, which kept activity in the technology sector as well as the food sector a bit volatile, it said.

Cement sector stocks went up earlier in the day, however, selling pressure brought them down by the close, the report added.

Besides cement, oil and gas marketing companies, steel and exploration and production sectors faced selling pressure.

Sectors contributing to the performance included technology (+124 points), banks (+60 points), fertiliser (+42 points), textile (+23 points), cement (-54 points), oil and gas marketing companies (-28 points), power (-28 points), and exploration and production (-27 points).

Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included TRG Pakistan (+104 points), HBL (+28 points), Engro Fertilisers (+21 points), Meezan Bank (+19 points) and Systems Limited (+15 points).

Stocks that contributed negatively were Hubco (-37 points), Pakistan State Oil (-17 points), DG Khan Cement (-14 points), Maple Leaf Cement (-12 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company (-12 points).

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the KSE-100 index remained mixed after touching intra-day high and low of +144 and -221 points respectively. It closed the session at 44,857, up 90 points or 0.2%.

The market remained dull amid announcement of the monetary policy meeting which would take place on March 19, he added.

Top volume leaders were Unity Foods (+5%), Telecard Limited (+7.9%), TRG Pakistan (+7.5%), Ghani Glass (+3%), Pakistan Refinery (-2.3%) and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim (+1.7%), which contributed a cumulative 155 million shares (38%) to the total volume.

Pressure was seen in the cement and steel sectors where Lucky Cement (-0.2%), Kohat Cement (-1.4%), Pioneer Cement (-2.3%), DG Khan Cement (-2.1%), Aisha Steel Mills (-1.5%) and Mughal Iron and Steel (-2.8%) closed in the negative zone.

Oil prices in the international market were lower than the previous day, which negatively impacted the local exploration and production sector with Pakistan Petroleum (-0.8%), Oil and Gas Development Company (-0.8%) and Pakistan Oilfields (-0.6%) losing ground.

“Moving forward, we recommend investors to sell on strength amid possibility of louder political noise ahead of the scheduled long march,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes fell to 408.5 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 455.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs19.99 billion.

Shares of 405 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 168 stocks closed higher, 213 declined and 24 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods was the volume leader with 37.2 million shares, gaining Rs1.42 to close at Rs29.97. It was followed by Telecard Limited with 35.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.58 to close at Rs7.93 and TRG Pakistan with 28.5 million shares, gaining Rs9.67 to close at Rs138.65.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs180.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.