Stocks flat after hitting new intraday highs

Stocks on Tuesday staged a stellar show that flopped near the end as investors stampeded to book profits after global oil and equity rout hit the panic button, dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index lost 0.04 percent or 15.38 points to close at 43,250.84 points, while volumes increased to 702.210 million shares, as compared with 629.525 million on Monday. KSE-30 also hit a low of 0.27 percent or 47.97 points to end at 18,040.70 points level.

Ovais Ahsan, chief executive officer at Optimus Capital Management said the market closed slightly in the negative zone as profit-taking clipped intraday gains.

The index earlier touched a new intraday high for the year as buying in the cement, banking, and oil stocks kept the gains coming, but this rally succumbed to selling pressure towards the latter half of the day.

“Reports of a bombing attempt in Karachi, which was thwarted by the law enforcement agencies, and Pakistan’s refusing to buy LNG in the international market due to record high prices made some serious dents in sentiment,” Ovais Ahsan added.

Muhammad Saeed Khalid, head of research at Shajar Capital, said the market remained bullish during the day, mainly on strong participation in technology and auto stocks as investors accumulated aggressively taking cues from the latest LSMI (Large Scale Manufacturing Industries) numbers.

“We saw sluggish activity in the oil stocks, mainly because of slipping international crude oil prices”, he said and added “We have also noticed bullish activity in fertiliser and banking stocks where booking of capital gains is expected ahead of the CY20 financial results,” Khalid added.

Trading activity was recorded in 418 active scrips, of which 199 increased, 201 lost, and 18 remained unchanged.

A A Soomro, managing director at KASB Securities said profit booking hit the equities hard in the last hour of the trade, knocking nearly 450 points out of the benchmark index.

Stocks started the day with a bullish momentum, taking inspiration from yesterday’s positive closing, he said adding, late profit-taking mainly seen in refineries and cements disrupted the rally, he said.

“Going forward we expect the market to stay neutral-to-positive with investors, switching from stocks, which have already rallied to the ones that still have value,” Soomro added.

Arif Habib Corporation’s Ahsan Mehanti said stocks closed lower after oil stocks came under pressure owing to weakening crude oil market and uncertainty in global equities.

Cement and fertiliser

stocks outperformed on upbeat November sales, while banks drew strength from surging deposits, he added.

“Investor concerns over rupee instability, Nepra approval for a raise in power tariff for distribution companies and uncertainty over IMF’s new terms for EEF (Extended Fund Facility) weighed the index down,” Mehanti added.

Nestle Pakistan secured Rs110.52, closing at Rs6,930/share, and Sapphire Fibre grabbed Rs69, finishing at Rs995/share to emerge as the top gainers of the day. Wah-Noble lost Rs16.20, ending at Rs258.80/share, and Murree Brewery shed Rs14.05, closing at Rs550/share, to become the worst losers.

Pakistan Refinery led volumes with 64.427 million shares, but lost Rs1.45 to end at Rs21.29/share. Maple Leaf posted the lowest trades with 17.431 million shares and also lost Rs0.89 to end at Rs41.79/share.