Market watch : Lack of triggers keeps bourse at bay
Benchmark KSE-100 index sheds 20 points.
Benchmark KSE-100 index sheds 20 points.
KARACHI:
The local bourse witnessed an extremely slow and uneventful day as investors remained cautious ahead of the political transition due this weekend. The incumbent government’s five-year tenure will expire on March 15 (today). Absence of day traders attracted 50% lower than average volumes.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.11% or 19.75 points to end at the 17,740.69 point level. Activity remained dull as trade volumes shrunk to a two-month low, clocking in at 128 million shares compared to 180 million shares traded on Wednesday.
“The market has been volatile for some time. The lack of triggers kept investors at bay today,” said Samar Iqbal of Topline Securities.
“Even penny stocks, which usually are retail favourites, remained lacklustre,” reported Muhammad Rawjani, analyst at Elixir Securities.
Uncertainty surrounding Engro Corporation’s concessionary gaps pricing continued after the company notified the stock exchange that it was unaware of government’s decision that dragged the share price in red.
In December 2012, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) under a long-term solution allocated 202 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas on a dedicated basis to fertiliser plants on the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) network. The SNGPL network includes Pakarab Fertilizer, Engro Enven, Agritech Limited and Dawood Hercules fertiliser plants.
Additionally, Engro Fertilizers was seeking clarification from the government regarding ECC’s recent approval of its existing base plant’s Mari Gas reallocation to Engro’s Enven plant on a dedicated basis.
Enven’s original contracted gas supply cost with SNGPL was $0.70 per million British thermal unit (mmbtu) compared to average gas prices of $4 to 5 per mmbtu, including taxes and carriage cost.
Engro Fertilizers recently signed gas sale agreements (GSA) for the Kunnar Pasakhi Deep and Reti Maru fields and was expected to sign GSAs for the remaining fields.
Telecard was the volume leader with 12.49 million shares gaining Rs0.37 to finish at Rs6.33. It was followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 11.17 million shares gaining Rs0.37 to close at Rs17.31 and Dewan Motors with 9.35 million shares climbing Rs0.64 to close at Rs2.92.
Foreign institutional investors were buyers of Rs149.2 million and sellers of Rs120.27 million worth of equity, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
The next few sessions of the market will remain sensitive to news flow over the political situation and the bulls will look keenly at any signs of a consensus emerging among parties over the caretaker setup as a trigger going forward, said JS Global Capital analyst Ovais Ahsan.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2013.
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The local bourse witnessed an extremely slow and uneventful day as investors remained cautious ahead of the political transition due this weekend. The incumbent government’s five-year tenure will expire on March 15 (today). Absence of day traders attracted 50% lower than average volumes.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.11% or 19.75 points to end at the 17,740.69 point level. Activity remained dull as trade volumes shrunk to a two-month low, clocking in at 128 million shares compared to 180 million shares traded on Wednesday.
“The market has been volatile for some time. The lack of triggers kept investors at bay today,” said Samar Iqbal of Topline Securities.
“Even penny stocks, which usually are retail favourites, remained lacklustre,” reported Muhammad Rawjani, analyst at Elixir Securities.
Uncertainty surrounding Engro Corporation’s concessionary gaps pricing continued after the company notified the stock exchange that it was unaware of government’s decision that dragged the share price in red.
In December 2012, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) under a long-term solution allocated 202 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas on a dedicated basis to fertiliser plants on the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) network. The SNGPL network includes Pakarab Fertilizer, Engro Enven, Agritech Limited and Dawood Hercules fertiliser plants.
Additionally, Engro Fertilizers was seeking clarification from the government regarding ECC’s recent approval of its existing base plant’s Mari Gas reallocation to Engro’s Enven plant on a dedicated basis.
Enven’s original contracted gas supply cost with SNGPL was $0.70 per million British thermal unit (mmbtu) compared to average gas prices of $4 to 5 per mmbtu, including taxes and carriage cost.
Engro Fertilizers recently signed gas sale agreements (GSA) for the Kunnar Pasakhi Deep and Reti Maru fields and was expected to sign GSAs for the remaining fields.
Telecard was the volume leader with 12.49 million shares gaining Rs0.37 to finish at Rs6.33. It was followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 11.17 million shares gaining Rs0.37 to close at Rs17.31 and Dewan Motors with 9.35 million shares climbing Rs0.64 to close at Rs2.92.
Foreign institutional investors were buyers of Rs149.2 million and sellers of Rs120.27 million worth of equity, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
The next few sessions of the market will remain sensitive to news flow over the political situation and the bulls will look keenly at any signs of a consensus emerging among parties over the caretaker setup as a trigger going forward, said JS Global Capital analyst Ovais Ahsan.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2013.
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