Market watch: KSE-100 extends losses in range-bound session

Benchmark index falls 272.63 points to settle at 47,363.27

KARACHI:

Bears held their ground at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday and dragged the KSE-100 index down by 273 points.

The bourse witnessed a range-bound session as a lack of positive triggers restricted the market from posting gains. Although the rupee recovered partially, the pressure on the currency was expected to continue on the back of political and economic developments.

The announcement of strong corporate results by a few companies failed to turn direction of the market. Investor sentiment remained weak owing to a dearth of encouraging news reports that could propel the market higher.

Earlier, trading kicked off on a positive note, however, profit-booking emerged in the initial hour, which pulled the KSE-100 index down. The market traded in a narrow range for most part of the session, but the final hour saw a steep decline as investors offloaded their stockholdings at a rapid pace.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 272.63 points, or 0.57%, to settle at 47,363.27.

A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the market traded range bound between +124 points and -374 points, closing the session down by 273 points.

The rollover week took its toll on the market, besides some disappointment over financial results and weakening of the rupee against the US dollar. Selling pressure was evident in cement, steel and power sectors, the report added.

JS Global analyst Neelum Naz said that due to the rollover week pressure, the benchmark KSE-100 index took a battering and shed 273 points to close at 47,363.

“Fundamentally, the market is trading at attractive valuations and a positive trigger is required to resume the uptrend,” she said.

“Keeping in view the fact that the corrective phase is almost over, we advise investors to build exposure across the board,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes fell to 360.8 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 384.6 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs11.7 billion.

Shares of 483 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 118 stocks closed higher, 350 declined and 15 remained unchanged.

Hascol Petroleum was the volume leader with 28.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.49 to close at Rs7.92. It was followed by Ghani Global Holdings with 25.1 million shares, losing Rs3.38 to close at Rs42.34 and Kohinoor Spinning with 21.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.32 to close at Rs5.72.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs108.9 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.