market watch: June-end anxiety leads to profit-booking in blue chips

Benchmark 100-share index falls 248.28 points

KARACHI: With the financial year nearing its end, investors booked profits in selected blue-chip stocks on Monday, but the overall market remained dull and listless.

Trading activity was mostly seen in second and third-tier stocks on strong valuations. Growing political noise, higher capital gains tax slabs from next month and falling global crude prices played their part and put pressure on the bourse.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index stood at 34,278.42 points, recording a drop of 0.72% or 248.28 points.



An analyst at Topline Securities said rising political noise, futures rollover and June-end activity kept the market in the negative territory with subdued volumes.

“Engro Corp and Pak Elektron recorded decent volumes valuing Rs710 million and Rs474 million, respectively.”

Small-cap stocks remained in the limelight with Dewan Cement Limited leading the traded volume with 24 million shares followed by K-Electric Limited with 23 million shares and Power Cement Limited with 10 million shares, said the analyst.

“Major interest was seen in index heavyweight stocks like Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and MCB Bank (MCB), which helped the market.”

An analyst at JS Global said as the futures rollover week started from Monday, the liquidity in the market was expected to remain low throughout the week.



“Byco continued its rally post-expansion, hitting its upper lock in the first 15 minutes of the session,” said the analyst.

“As international crude oil prices stood below $60, the heavyweights in the index remained depressed with PSO, PPL (Pakistan Petroleum) and POL (Pakistan Oilfields) losing 1.1%, 0.5% and 1.5% respectively.”

The analyst said the sugar sector with the exception of Habib Sugar Mills remained upbeat on the back of soaring local retail prices.

Trade volumes decreased to 187 million shares compared to 207 million on Friday. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.2 billion.

Shares of 337 companies were traded. Of these, 89 companies closed higher, 214 fell and 34 remained unchanged.

Dewan Cement was the volume leader with 23.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.75 to close at Rs14. It was followed by K-Electric Limited with 22.9 million shares, losing Rs0.26 to close at Rs8.46 and Power Cement Limited with 9.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.74 to close at Rs10.76.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs124 million worth of shares during the session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2015.

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