KSE range bound ahead of long weekend

KARACHI: Equities closed in the negative as investors remained cautious on the last day of trading before the Eid holidays, according to analysts.

The benchmark 100-share index at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) went down by 0.12 per cent, or 11.8 points, to close at 9,879.33 after gaining 143 points during trade on Wednesday.

“Profit taking was witnessed today (Thursday) at inflated levels as investors preferred to book profit ahead of Eid holidays, with index closing 0.1 per cent down,” commented Murtaza Jafar from JS Global Capital.

The trade volume was 50.45 million shares, down marginally from the 52 million shares traded on Wednesday. It is worth noting that the daily average turnover in September last year was 258.9 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti, Director at Arif Habib Investments Limited, was of the view that clarifications on capital gains tax rules invited selling pressure despite institutional and foreign interest witnessed in the oil and gas sector throughout the trading session.

Shares of 340 companies were traded during the day. At the end of the day, 176 stocks closed higher while 147 declined and 17 remained unchanged. The value of the shares traded during the day was approximately Rs1.78 billion.

“Major activity was seen in tier II and III stocks where JSCL led the volume,” highlighted Samar Iqbal, a local equity dealer.

JSCL, or JS and Company, witnessed a turnover of 5.56 million shares. The scrip lost Rs0.02 to close at Rs10.30 per share.

First Credit and Investment Bank Limited followed with a trade volume of 4.63 million shares. The company’s stock lost a whopping 8.7 per cent to end trading at Rs2.72 per share.

Nishat Mills emerged as the third market leader after announcing its full year result on Thursday. The textile company’s net profit more than doubled to Rs2.9 billion from last year’s Rs1.27 billion, according to a notification sent to the KSE.

“Nishat Mills was among the top volume leaders for the day as it announced earnings beating market consensus at earnings per share of Rs8.29 and a cash dividend of Rs2.5 per share,” wrote Sara Shahid from Elixir Securities.

The scrip closed at Rs45.64 per share, after an increase of Rs0.28.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2010.