Stocks inch higher amid mixed trade

Stocks edged up in mixed trade on Wednesday amid reports of $654 million current account surplus in March, rupee’s stability, and speculations over likely political patch-up, traders said. Investors’ participation though remained sluggish through the day, while 3rd tier stocks showed decent performance.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index closed slightly higher by 51.29 points or 0.13 percent to 40,499.34 points, against 40,448.05 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 40,528.40 points while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 40,290.78 points.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said the PSX witnessed a mixed trading session on Wednesday. “The benchmark KSE-100 opened in the red territory but traded in both directions, as investors chose to be vigilant due to the ongoing political uncertainty,” it reported. “Investors’ involvement remained sluggish throughout the day, as volumes in the mainboard dried up while 3rd tier stocks continued to dominate the volume board.”

KSE-30 index also increased by 15.15 points or 0.10 percent to 15,095.58 points compared with 15,080.43 points recorded in the last session. Traded shares rose by 17 million shares to 84.164 million shares from 67.536 million shares. The trading value increased to Rs3.628 billion from Rs2.275 billion. Market capital rose to Rs6.142 trillion from Rs6.136 trillion. Out of 291 companies active in the session, 165 closed in green, 104 in red and 22 remained unchanged.

Muhammad Arbash, analyst at Topline Securities, said equities closed slightly up where the benchmark KSE100 Index settled at the 40,499 level (Up 0.13pc). “The market opened negatively where initial negativity came from SYS after the result announcement where the stock announced 4Q2022 EPS at Rs5.22 along with DPS of Rs5 lower than expected result, which let the stock close 3.52 percent down.”

ENGRO, MCB, DAWH, POL and FCEPL closed higher, which cumulatively added 104 points to the index. The highest increase was recorded in Khyber Textile shares, which rose by Rs41.75 to Rs680 per share, followed by Premium Tex., which increased by Rs29.56 to Rs459.99 per share. A significant decline was noted in Nestle PakistanXD, which fell by Rs152.83 to Rs5,197.17 per share, followed by Unilever Foods, which decreased by Rs54 to Rs18,000 per share.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks closed higher on reports of $654 million current account surplus for Mar’23.” He added that rupee stability, strong financial results, and speculations over likely political patch-up had played a catalyst role in a positive close.

Sectors contributing to the performance included fertiliser (+68.3 points), E&P’s (+25.7 points), cement (+13.8 points), chemical (+11.4 points), and inv. banks/inv. cos./securities cos. (+9.6 points).

Silk Bank Ltd remained the volume leader with 6.401 million shares, which closed higher by 10 paisas to Rs1.10 per share. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 5.130 million shares, which closed lower by one paisa to Rs1.15 per share.

Other significant turnover stocks included Engro Corp, Pak Petroleum, Bal.Glass, TPL Trakker Ltd, Descon Oxychem, Pervez Ahmed Co, Pak Refinery and Telecard Limited. Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 13.224 million shares from 14.198 million shares.