Profit-taking pulls stocks below 43,000

Bears continued to dominate trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday as the benchmark KSE-100 index extended losses from the previous session and recorded a decline of over 441.06 points. Succumbing to late-session profit-taking, the benchmark closed the roll over week on a negative note.

The market opened on a positive note on the last day of the rollover week despite the prevailing volatility on the political front, however, news regarding damage from flash floods to the economy dented investor’s sentiment. However, the KSE-100 index failed to maintain a positive momentum as bulls withdrew and bears took over in the second half.

The persistently depreciating Pakistani rupee against the US dollar in the inter-bank market further fuelled bearish sentiment. Lack of positive triggers stumped investor confidence and as a result profittaking was witnessed at the bourse and the week closed on a negative note. Earlier, trading began on a positive note, however, the KSE-100 index failed to maintain momentum and bears took over.

After a dull trading session, the KSE-100 index touched an intra-day low of 42,547.72 and closed the day in red. At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 441.06 points, or -1.02%, to settle at 42,591.51. Topline Securities, in its report, said that KSE-100 Index largely remained under pressure during the trading session as the index declined to close at 42,592 level (down by 1.02%).

Pakistan State Oil Company, TRG Pakistan Hub Power Company, Millat Tractors and Habib Bank lost value to weigh down on the Index by 180 points. Lucky Cement, in a notice to the exchange, announced buyback of up to 10 million shares from market from September 29, 2022 to December 19, 2022 or till such date that purchase is complete.

Traded volume and value for the day increased by 28% and 16% on day-on-day basis to 266 million shares and Rs9.03 billion respectively. K-Electric was volume leader with 50.6 million shares, the report added. Arif Habib Limited, in its report, said that a negative session was witnessed at the PSX due to the last day of rollover week as investors opted for profit-taking.

The first session consisted of dull activity despite opening in the green zone. However, in the second session investors opted for profit taking which hammered the index to close in the red zone. Main board volumes stayed dry. On the contrary, hefty volumes were observed in the third-tier stocks. The Index closed at 42,591.51 points, down by 441.06 points (-1.02% day-on-day).

Sectors contributing to the performance include banks (-85.5 points), technology (-64.0 points), OMC’s (-61.1 points), E&P (-48.3 points) and cement (-37.7 points). Volumes increased from 208.1 million shares to 265.8 million shares (+27.7% dayon-day). Average traded value also increased by 16.1% to reach $40.9 million against $35.3 million. Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes are K-Electric, Pakistan Refinery, Pak Elektron, Cnergyico PK and Hascol Petroleum. JS Research analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala said that the bourse remained under pressure throughout the day due to rising political uncertainty and possible damage from flash floods to the economy.

The KSE-100 index closed at 42,591, losing 441 points day-on-day. Traded volume stood at 266 million shares where K-Electric (3.5%), Pakistan Refinery (1.2%), Pak Elektron (1.8%), Cnergyico PK (-2.1%) and WorldCall Telecom (-1.5%) were the highest contributors. “Going forward, we recommend investors avail downsides as opportunities to buy technology and banking sector stocks,” said the analyst. Overall, trading volumes decreased to 265.7 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 208.1 million.

The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.03 billion. Shares of 331 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 90 stocks closed higher, 218 declined and 23 remained unchanged. K-Electric was the volume leader with 50.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.12 to close at Rs3.51. It was followed by Pakistan Refinery with 16.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.22 to close at Rs19.08 and Pak Elektron with 13.09 million shares, gaining Rs0.3 to close at Rs16.72. Foreign investors were net buyers of Rs185.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.