Market watch: KSE-100 erases gains, closes week in red

Benchmark KSE-100 index falls 148.52 points to settle at 44,118.39

KARACHI:

The tussle between bears and bulls continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday and the KSE-100 index experienced a turbulent session marked by buying activity in first half and selling pressure in the second. As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 index erased all gains and closed the session nearly 150 points down.

Lacklustre activity and absence of significant developments in the final few days of the ongoing calendar year dimmed investor interest at the stock market. Besides, lack of clarity on mini-budget and revival of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme motivated market participants to offload their holdings.

The first session kicked off with a spike however the jump proved to be short-lived and the index ended the first half with a meagre gain of 28 points. A selling spree, emerging at the beginning of the second session, wiped off all the gains. Bourse players attempted to lift the index upward in the final hour however their efforts went in vain and the stock market closed on a negative note.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 148.52 points, or 0.34%, to settle at 44,118.39.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that battle between bulls and bears was conquered by the bears in the last trading hour.

Market opened with a positive momentum as SBP conducted another OMO for 63 days.

Optimistic approach faded away due to concerns of investors towards higher inflation and dip in total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP mainly due to external debt repayment.

Activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the third tier stocks. On the flip-side, in the second session institutional buyers started fetching value stocks due to attractive multiples, the report said.

JS Global analyst Muhammad Mubashir said that another lackluster session was witnessed today. Market opened on a positive note and gained 200 points but eventually, due to lack of positive triggers, investors chose to book profit leading the KSE-100 to close at 44,118, down 149 points day-on-day.

Traded volume stood at 224 million shares with Hum Network (-3.2%), TRG Pakistan (-4.8%), TPL Properties (2.8%), Unity Foods (-2.5%) and Telecard Limited (0.1%) being the highest contributors.

“Going forward, we recommend investors adopt buy on dip strategy in banking, exploration and production and cement sectors,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes fell to 223.4 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 240.4 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.3 billion.

Shares of 353 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 136 stocks closed higher, 194 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

Unity Foods was the volume leader with 33.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.64 to close at Rs1.79. It was followed by Hum Network with 24.2 million shares, losing Rs0.22 to close at Rs6.66 and TRG Pakistan with 20.6 million shares, losing Rs5.95 to close at Rs118.4.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs55.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.