Market watch: Bourse continues march on consolidation path

Benchmark KSE-100 index falls two points.

KARACHI:

The index witnessed another day of consolidation and closed marginally lower amid uncertainty on the political front. The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index shed 0.01% or 2.06 points to end at 15,373.46 point level.

Market remained lacklustre as the National Reconciliation Ordinance hearing was deferred till tomorrow, according to Topline Securities Equity Dealer Samar Iqbal.

Trade volumes jumped to 105 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 86 million shares.

“Investors seem to be cherry picking scripts for the upcoming quarter as the full-year result season ended for major oil and cement stocks,” said Shakir Padela, analyst at JS Global Capital.

Shares of 340 companies were traded on the second trading session of the week. At the end of the day 139 stocks closed higher, 149 declined while 52 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs2.5 billion.

The cement sector dominated the gains as three of the top five volume leaders were cement producers over the news that cement exports surged by 20.38% in the first two months of the fiscal year 2012-13. According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 1.2 million tons of cement worth $91.4 million was exported during July and August 2012 against 1.5 million tons valued at $75.9 million in the corresponding period last year.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company attracted buying over renewed interest lifting the stock up and stood out as the volume leader with 11.4 million shares gaining Rs0.42 to finish at Rs19.36.

It was followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 7.3 million shares gaining Rs0.6 to close at Rs8.78 and Pak Elektron – electrical goods manufacturer – with 7.1 million shares jumping Rs0.1 to close at Rs8.11.

Handsome full year earnings announcements by Maple Leaf Cement brought it in the lime light. The company converted losses of Rs1.8 billion last year to a profit of Rs496 million for the fiscal year 2011-12, according to a notice sent to the KSE.

Foreign interest in the market took a slump as foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs102.3 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2012.