Market watch: Bourse sees no clear direction amid low turnover

Benchmark KSE-100 index falls 77.95 points.

KARACHI:

The index opened with no clear direction amid lack of interest with less than 48 million shares traded on the stock market in a short session.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.26% or 77.95 points to end at 29,619.84.

“Financials attracted interest with Bank Alfalah (BAFL PA +2.3%) and Faysal Bank (FABL PA +3.9%) gaining as investors bet on better earnings post-3Q,” said Fareesa Baig of Elixir Securities. “MCB Bank (MCB PA -.65%) and Bank Al Habib (BAHL PA -2%) closed red in absence of buyers.

“Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC PA -.6%) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO PA -.3%) continued with its recent laggard momentum, while Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGP PA +1.6%) managed to be among the most traded over oil regulatory authority’s approval of 14% increase in tariff for its consumers.



“We expect the broader market to continue to trade lacklustre with market participants looking forward to the upcoming earnings season amid lack of immediate triggers. Any positive news flow from local politics will act as a catalyst and we recommend staying long in NBP, BAFL, DGKC, PSO, HUBC, NCPL, NML, EFOODS and KEL,” she said.

Trade volumes slightly rose to 77 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 73 million.

Shares of 317 companies were traded on Friday. At the end of the day, 112 stocks closed higher, 185 declined while 20 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.6 billion.

Faysal Bank was the volume leader with 4.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.62 to finish at Rs16.63. It was followed by JS Bank Limited with 4.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.26 to close at Rs6 and Sui Northern Gas Company with 4.5 million shares, Rs0.36 to close at Rs23.49.



Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs199 million during the trade session, according to data maintained by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2014.

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