Market watch: Stocks fall over lack of positive triggers

Benchmark KSE-100 index drops 300.36 points to settle at 45,296.88

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange experienced a roller coaster ride on Thursday and the KSE-100 index shed 300 points as an absence of positive triggers combined with anticipation of tough measures to support the economy dampened investor interest.

The rupee lost ground against the greenback half way through the session, which triggered a sell-off, pulling the market down.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin’s comments on introducing measures to cool down an overheating economy further fuelled the decline. All index-heavy sectors faced substantial profit-booking and closed with losses.

Earlier, trading kicked off positively and the KSE-100 index inched closer to the 46,000-point barrier in early hours. Selling pressure emerged towards midday with the market diving and entering the red zone.

A buying spree before the end of the session helped erase some of the losses.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 300.36 points, or 0.66%, to settle at 45,296.88.

Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market saw a rebound early on with the index climbing 342 points. However, profit-booking overtook the buying interest and it eventually turned into aggressive selling, which eroded the gains made earlier with a drop of 514 points near the close. The index closed down by 300 points.

Technology, bank, exploration and production, oil and gas marketing, and refinery sectors got most of the thrashing with a little bit of respite in the cement sector, the report said.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said that the KSE-100 index started on a positive note, touching intra-day high of 45,939 (+342 points). But selling pressure came in during the second half where the market hit a low of 45,083 (-514 points) and eventually closed at 45,297, down 300 points.

Major laggards of the trading session were TRG Pakistan (-3.4%), AGP Limited (-2.7%), Indus Motor Company (-1.5%) and Cherat Cement (-1.7%).

NetSol in the technology sector announced its financial result, reporting earnings per share of Rs2.13 for financial year FY21. At-Tahur also announced its FY21 financial result and posted earnings of Rs1.48 per share.

“Going forward we recommend investors to remain cautious at current levels and wait for fresh buying,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 443.8 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 583.7 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.4 billion.

Shares of 514 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 143 stocks closed higher, 349 declined and 22 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 89.1 million shares, losing Rs0.03 to close at Rs2.95. It was followed by Hum Network with 29.2 million shares, losing Rs0.25 to close at Rs6 and Telecard Limited with 23.4 million shares, losing Rs1.53 to close at Rs18.89.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs73.9 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.