Market watch: Index remains range-bound as caution prevails

Benchmark KSE-100 index rises 8.75 points.

KARACHI:

The stock market witnessed a lethargic day with the index closing slightly higher as investors remained cautious.

At close, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index rose 0.03% or 8.75 points to end at 29,604.30.

Elixir Securities analyst Faisal Bilwani said Pakistan equities closed the day with little change in range bound trading. “After over 6.5% gain in the last four sessions, investors were cautious and booked gains with benchmark KSE-100 seeing resistance,” said Bilwani.



“Engro Fertilizers (EFERT) +3% was the highlight of the day, trading over 13% of volumes on KSE All Share index. This was because a possible on-time reversal of gas surcharge and recurring 20% EPS jump helped channel institutional flows.

“Volumes were yet again led by small cap plays on retail activity, however, select index names primarily oils, Pakistan Petroleum (PPL) PA -.6% and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) -0.9% attracted attention.”

Meanwhile, JS Global analyst Arhum Ghous said volumes remained encouraging. “The sentiment in the market remained positive due to the strong foreign portfolio buying on Wednesday and news of World Economic Forum improving Pakistan competitiveness ranking to 129 from 133.

Trade volumes rose to 223 million shares compared to Wednesday’s tally of 200 million.

Shares of 360 companies were traded on Thursday. Of these, 137 companies declined, 205 closed higher while 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day stood at Rs11.9 billion.



EFERT was the volume leader with 29.8 million shares, gaining Rs1.61 to close at Rs54.89. It was followed by Pak Elektron Limited with 18.7 million shares, gaining Rs1.58 to close at Rs33.67 and K-Electric Limited with 18.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.15 to close at Rs8.30.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs541 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

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

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