Market watch: KSE-100 ends flat in topsy-turvy session

Benchmark index edges down 6.28 points to settle at 47,413.46

KARACHI:

Volatility continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index closed slightly lower in a topsy-turvy session.

Bulls competed with bears as the market saw cherry-picking and profit-booking at the same time, resulting in a meagre loss of six points by the close of session.

A remarkable 1.6 times oversubscription in Air Link Communication’s book building process on Tuesday aided investor sentiment while a lack of positive news flow triggered selling pressure.

Oil sectors experienced mixed activity with market participants awaiting the outcome of a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, called OPEC+, scheduled for later in the day.

Earlier, stock trading began with a spike but soon profit-booking erased some of the gains. A combination of buying interest and selling pressure made the market swing up and down throughout the day. Bears emerged dominant in the final hours and pushed the KSE-100 index marginally downwards.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 6.28 points, or 0.01%, to settle at 47,413.46.

A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that first day of the new month recorded a range-bound activity with sideboard stocks performing better than blue chips.

The index swayed between +209 points and -65 points, closing the session down by 6 points.

Trading interest and price performance were witnessed in TPL Properties, Telecard Limited, WorldCall Telecom and Hum Network. Of these, TPL Properties and Telecard Limited hit their upper circuit and maintained the level till the close of trading.

Bank, cement, fertiliser, power and refinery sectors ended the session in the red whereas the technology sector led the index, the report said.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said that after touching intra-day high of 47,629 (+209 points), the KSE-100 succumbed to profit-booking and slid to intra-day low of 47,355 (-65 points). It closed flat at 47,413.

WorldCall Telecom (+10.6%), Telecard Limited (+7%), Ghani Global Holdings (+7.5%), Hum Network (+4.6%) and Treet Corp (-0.3%) accounted for 52% of the total volume for the day.

Investor interest was witnessed in the steel sector where International Steels (+2.2%), Amreli Steels (+2.7%), International Industries (+1.6%), Mughal Iron and Steel Industries (+1.7%) and Agha Steel Industries (+0.8%) gained ground.

Moreover, TPL Corp (+7.5%) closed at its upper circuit on the back of news that a unit of Pakistan’s TPL Corp had planned to raise $500 million through a private real estate investment trust (REIT), marking one of the largest such fundraising initiatives in the country’s history.

 “The market is trading at attractive valuations and a positive trigger is required to resume the upward trend,” the analyst said. “Keeping in view the fact that the corrective phase is almost over, we advise investors to build exposure across the board.”

Overall trading volumes surged to 536.6 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 378.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14.4 billion.

Shares of 534 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 307 stocks closed higher, 207 declined and 20 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 162.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.34 to close at Rs3.56. It was followed by Telecard Limited with 45.1 million shares, gaining Rs1.37 to close at Rs20.83 and Ghani Global Holdings with 32.7 million shares, gaining Rs3.22 to close at Rs46.20.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs345.1 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.