Market watch: KSE-100 turns bearish despite IMF’s go-ahead

Benchmark index falls 256.22 points to settle at 45,862.93

KARACHI:

Bears returned to the bourse on Thursday as the KSE-100 index dropped 256 points despite the approval of $1 billion loan tranche by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Late on Wednesday, the global lender allowed the revival of $6 billion loan programme, which had been on hold since June last year. The development, however, failed to have an impact on the stock market and it lost modest ground.

Investors resorted to profit booking at attractive valuations, pushing the market below the 46,000-point mark, which had been crossed a day ago. An across-the-board sell-off was witnessed at the bourse.

Earlier, trading began with a spike as the market reacted to the restoration of IMF loan programme. However, the optimism died down soon as the index entered the red zone and registered losses for the rest of the session.

The market fell steadily and late session bearish pressure inflated the losses.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 256.22 points, or 0.56%, to settle at 45,862.93.

A report of Arif Habib Limited stated that the KSE-100 index opened on a positive note as the IMF Executive Board approved a loan tranche of $1 billion out of its $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan.

However, the investors could not keep the index above the psychological level of 46,000 as profit-taking was witnessed across the board, which led the market to close in the red zone.

Main board activity remained gloomy. On the flip side, the market continued to trade sideways as it witnessed hefty volumes in third-tier stocks, the report said.

JS Global analyst Waqar Iqbal said that with the IMF board’s approval of $1 billion for Pakistan, the market started off on a positive note but failed to sustain the momentum due to profit-taking.

The benchmark index eventually closed at 45,863, down 256 points day-on-day. Trading volumes reduced to 328 million shares, a drop of 9% day-on-day.

Major contribution to the market volumes came from WorldCall Telecom, Telecard Limited, Ghani Global Holdings, Hum Network and Treet Corp.

“Going forward, a slight correction can be seen. We advise investors to book profits at current levels and wait for dips,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes decreased to 328 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 360.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.5 billion.

Shares of 369 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 133 stocks closed higher, 207 declined and 29 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 32.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs2.33. It was followed by Telecard Limited with 20.3 million shares, losing Rs0.97 to close at Rs17.45 and Ghani Global Holdings with 16.8 million shares, losing Rs0.47 to close at Rs22.24.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs124.4 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.