Market watch: Volatile index settles in black

Benchmark KSE-100 index gains 74.41 points.

KARACHI: Amid high volumes, the index managed to stay in the black.

At the end of the day, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.26% or 74.41 points to end at 28,653.37.

According to JS Global Analyst Fahd Ali, the bulls dominated the KSE-100 index.

“Major volumes were seen in Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited, Bank of Punjab and Pace (Pakistan) Limited,” said Ali. “The cement sector remained depressed as domestic dispatches were disappointing on a year-on-year basis at 2.46mn tons (-4%) as heavy rains in the country took a toll on demand. Furthermore, exports too plunged by 6% year-on-year to 0.73mn tons.



“Insurance sector attracted investors’ interest due to anticipation of positive earnings in the upcoming quarter,” concluded Ali, adding that the market will continue its positive momentum in the next couple of sessions where investors should target oil and gas, banking and fertilisers.

Meanwhile, Naveen Yaseen of Elixir Securities said that the market opened strong before trading volatile and settling in the black after having surged by +0.6% during the day as investors opted to book gains mainly in index heavy banking names.

“Leading the charts from the opening bell was Engro Corporation (ENGRO PA +5%) that attracted foreign and local interest alike after having been a laggard in the previous trading sessions,” said Yaseen.

“Meanwhile, banks, namely Bank Al-Falah (BAFL PA +0.07%) and National Bank (NBP PA +0.2%) saw local interest initially after reported net foreign buying in the sector yesterday, but later, however, succumbed to late selling pressure.



“Expectations of an overwhelming response from overseas investors on issuance of $1 billion Eurobonds and improved macros are to guide broader market sentiment, while foreign inflows will continue to play a key role in setting momentum in the immediate future. We recommend staying long in value plays such as National Bank, Bank Al-Falah, Engro Corporation and Pakistan State Oil,” concluded Yaseen.

Trade volumes rose to 334.2 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 256 million.

Shares of 373 companies were traded on Tuesday. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.5 billion.

Lafarge Pakistan was the volume leader with 44.7 million shares, losing Rs0.62 to finish at Rs12.16. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 24.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.06 to close at Rs11.38 and Pace (Pakistan) Limited with 20.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.26 to close at Rs4.87.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs661.3 million, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2014.

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