Market watch: See-sawing index falls again

Benchmark KSE-100 index falls 49.36 points.

ISLAMABAD: After a brief bullish stint, the market ended in red again as trade remained thin.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.18% or 49.36 points to end at 27,116.13.

According to analyst Harris Batla from Elixir Securities, Pakistan equities traded lacklustre near all time highs as day traders opted to remain on the sidelines ahead of the weekend.

“Rupee appreciation against the greenback continued to hurt textile plays with Nishat Mills Limited (NML PA -4.5%) and Nishat Chunian Limited (NCL PA -2.9%) falling,” said Batla.



“Rumoured selling in oil names kept the sector under duress, while financials continued to find institutional interest following the recent participation in Pakistan Investment bonds at ~200bps higher than T-bills, benefiting United Bank Limited (UBL PA +3.2%) and MCB Bank (MCB PA +1.2%) the most.

“Low cap retail plays remained dominant on volume charts with names like Bank of Punjab (BOP PA +2.1%), Summit Bank (SMBL PA -5.8%) and Faysal Bank (FABL PA -1.8%) attracting the most attention,” concluded Batla

Meanwhile, analyst Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said that trade remained thin as institutional profit-taking in blue chip oil, cements and textile stocks impacted sentiments ahead of quarter end close at KSE.



“Concerns over exports in textile and cement sectors and dismal earnings outlook for the fertiliser sector after Economic Coordination Committee approval on fertilisers import played a catalyst role in bearish sentiments in overbought stocks at KSE,” concluded Mehanti.

Trade volumes fell to level of 170 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 254 million.

Shares of 354 companies were traded on Thursday. At the end of the day, 150 stocks closed higher, 185 declined while 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.2 billion.

Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 22.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.22 to finish at Rs Rs10.64. It was followed by Summit Bank with 10 million shares, losing Rs0.19 to close at Rs3.08 and Faysal Bank with 8.9 million shares, losing Rs0.27 to close at Rs14.08.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs221 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.