Market watch: Index falls again as investor interest flags

Benchmark KSE-100 index falls 76.10 points.

KARACHI: A sluggish day at the bourse ended in the negative, as the book-building of Pakistan Petroleum (PPL) dampened investors’ interest in stocks.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.26% or 76.10 points to end at 28,981.34.



Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani said equities traded volatile with swings between black and red to finally close below 29,000. “This was a result of the fiscal end liquidity crunch coupled with limited participation by local institutions ahead of PPL +1.1% privatisation book-building which kept volumes on the lower side,” said Bilwani.

“PPL interestingly closed positive after recovering from day lows on rumours that floor price will be higher than earlier expected.

“Cements were mostly lower on news flow related to Lafarge Pakistan (LPCL) -1.5% acquisition as multiples from the said deal will likely set the tone for sector’s direction in the medium term.

“National Bank (NBP) -.9% was a victim of profit-taking despite reports of foreigner buying while K-Electric (KEL) -0.0% led volumes and is likely to retest recent highs.”

Bilwani concluded that PPL book-building will keep participants occupied for the next two days while broader market will continue to trade volatile. “We recommend staying long in index names and expect KSE100 to buck up as we near earnings season.”

Trade volumes rose to 203 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 165 million shares.

Shares of 356 companies were traded on Wednesday. At the end of the day, 112 stocks closed higher, 218 declined while 26 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.3 billion.



KEL was the volume leader with 19.5 million shares, staying constant to finish at Rs8.36 It was followed by LPCL with 14.7 million shares, declining Rs0.23 to close at Rs15.07 and Amtex Limited with 9.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.23 to close at Rs3.62.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs634 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2014.

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