PSX inches down in range-bound trading

Benchmark KSE-100 index falls 24.96 points to settle at 42,348.63

KARACHI:

Trading at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained range bound on Wednesday as investors awaited clarity on the economic and political fronts as well as looked for progress on talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Investor participation in market dealings remained thin following increase in government’s bond yields in Tuesday’s auction. As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 index moved in a narrow band and closed with a marginal loss of around 25 points.

“Stocks closed lower on economic uncertainty after a surge in government bond yields following State Bank’s decision last week to raise the key policy rate to 16% and pressure exerted by a slump in global equities,” said Ahsan Mehanti, MD of Arif Habib Corp.

“Political noise, uncertainty about the rupee parity and speculation about the outcome of Pakistan-IMF talks ahead of the release of next loan tranche played the role of catalysts in negative close of the market,” he said.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 24.96 points, or 0.06%, to settle at 42,348.63 at the PSX. Topline Securities, in its report, said that a range-bound session was observed at the stock exchange as the KSE-100 index traded between an intra-day high of 142 points and intra-day low of -99 points. It finally closed at 42,349 (down by 0.06%).

“Major contribution to the index came from Pakistan Oilfields, Pakistan Services Limited, Engro Corporation, Lucky Cement and Rafhan Maize Products as they contributed a total of 109 points,” it said.

On the flip side, HBL, Hubco, UBL, Fauji Fertiliser Company and TRG Pakistan lost ground, erasing 113 points from the index.

Traded volume and value for the day stood at 120 million shares and Rs4.7 billion respectively. WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with trading in 8.5 million shares, Topline added. Arif Habib Limited, in its report, said that a range-bound session was witnessed at the PSX.

The market opened in the green zone but lack of investor participation pulled the KSE-100 index down and it continued to trade in the same zone for most of the session, it said.

“Market participation was lower than the previous session as volumes remained dry in the main board, however, decent volumes were seen in third-tier stocks.”

The index closed at 42,348.63, down by 24.96 points (-0.06% day-on-day). Sectors contributing to the performance included commercial banks (-79.9 points), technology and communications (-17.3 points), power generation and distribution (-18.2 points), chemical (-8.2 points) and automobile assemblers (-6.9 points), Arif Habib report added.

JS Research analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala said that the bourse registered a range-bound session as the KSE-100 moved between a high and low of 42,515 and 42,274 points respectively. The index eventu- ally closed at 42,349, losing 25 points. Traded volume stood

at 120 million shares where WorldCall Telecom (-0.7%), Nishat Chunian Power (7.4%), Dewan Farooque Motors (8.3%), K-Electric (-0.4%) and TRG Pakistan (-1.3%) were the volume leaders.

“We expect range-bound activity to continue and recommend investors to avail any downside as an opportunity to buy in the technology, cement and textile sectors,” the analyst said.

Overall trading volumes decreased to 120.2 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 139.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.7 billion.

Shares of 334 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 153 stocks closed higher, 156 declined and 25 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 8.5 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs1.36. It was followed by Nishat Chunian Power with 6.7 million shares, gaining Rs1.05 to close at Rs15.15 and Dewan Farooque Motors with 5.8 million shares, gaining Re1 to close at Rs12.98.

Foreign investors were net buyers of Rs733.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.