Market watch: In absence of major triggers, investors hit snooze button

Benchmark 100-share index loses 212.58 points.

KARACHI: A week dominated by bearish activity ended in the red as the index declined amid low turnover with level falling close to 33,500 points.

At close on Friday, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index lost 0.63% or 212.58 points to end at 33,530.30.

“Despite the index opening sideways, the market closed in the red. Lack of triggers subdued any excitement keeping institutional interest minimal,” said Haris Ahmad Batla of Elixir Securities.

“Index-heavy oil plays led the fall following correction in international crude with Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC PA -2.27%), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL PA -2.64%) and Pakistan Oil Fields (POL PA -2.39%).

“On the contrary, Engro Corporation (ENGRO PA +.01%) showed resilience and traded green for most of the session but lost ground towards the end to close almost flat while volumes chart remained dominated by small-cap retail plays.



“We expect volumes to remain thin with range-bound activity ahead of the fiscal budget; however, excitement may be seen close to the monetary policy (expected late May 2015) as market anticipates a 50-basis points cut,” Batla suggested.

Trade volumes rose to 189 million shares compared to 159 million on Thursday.

Shares of 337 companies were traded on Friday. Of these, 141 companies closed higher, 178 saw a decline and 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8 billion.

Byco Petroleum was the volume leader with 25.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.25 to close at Rs13.50. It was followed by Lotte Chemical with 23.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.59 to close at Rs6.87 and TRG Pakistan Limited with 20.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.27 to close at Rs19.73.



Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Rs199 million worth of shares during the session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th,  2015.

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