Stocks slide on profit-selling; HBL result weighs

Stocks settled lower on Wednesday after swinging wildly with the dent of the day coming from Habib Bank Limited, owing to its disappointing earning result, while institutional profit-booking also weighed, dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) KSE-100 Shares Index lost 0.21 percent or 99.81 points to close at 46,768.14 points. Volumes swelled to 701.76 million shares from 514.208 million on Tuesday. KSE-30 shares index shed 0.3 percent or 58.71 points to close at 19,560.59 points.

Topline Securities in its daily market review said the market opened on a positive note following IMF and Pakistan’s reaching an agreement on measures to complete second to fifth review of the former’s EFF (Extended Fund Facility).

However, profit-taking hit the second half after HBL announced lower-than-expected earnings, leading the stock to lose 5.8 percent, which weighed heavy of the index, the brokerage added in its report.

As many as 419 scrips were active, of which 204 advanced, 199 declined. and 16 remained unchanged.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed bearish on institutional profit-taking in overbought scrips.

Weak global equities, concerns over anticipated surge in power tariff in the reinstated IMF program, foreign outflows and weak payouts in banking sector led to a bearish close, Mehanti added.

Danish Ladhani at JS Global Capital said profit-booking prevailed in a volatile market, despite the positive news that the IMF team had reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistani side. “Moving forward, we recommend investors to take any downside as a buying opportunity,” Ladhani said.

Brokerage Arif Habib Limited in a report remarked the market oscillated between +438 points and -141 points during the session that ended on a negative note.

HBL’s financial result became a major dampener for investors, who had bought the share in anticipation of hefty dividend. As a result HBL closed around its near-term support of Rs130, the brokerage added.

The report further said the profit-booking was observed in cement, steel, and power sectors that eroded the gains made earlier in the session.

The major contributors were Lucky Cement, up 2.24 percent, Pakistan State Oil, up 1.9 percent, TRG, up 1.38 percent, and Fauji Fertilizer, up 0.95 percent.

While, major draggers turned out to be HBL, down 5.8 percent, Oil and Gas Development Company, down 1.32 percent, D.G Khan Cement, down 2.48 percent, and Hubco, down 0.83 percent.

Millat Tractors, gaining Rs55.23 to close at Rs1,210.64/share, and Sunrays Textile, up Rs50.01 to close at Rs737.99/share, were the top achievers of the day.

Pakistan Tobacco, down Rs64.2 to close at Rs1,530.3/share, and Bata Pakistan, losing Rs49 to end at Rs1,780/share, ended up as the worst losers.

Analysts are upbeat that the market will get into an upward groove once 47,000 points levels is breached.

Hum Network posted highest volume as its 78.208 million shares changed hands during the session. The scrip shed 11 paisas to close at Rs7.0/share.

Telecard Limited was second with a turnover of 76.13 million shares.

The telecom gained 13 paisas to close at Rs7.76/share. Dost Steels Limited was third with a turnover of 53.71 million shares. The steelmaker gained Rs1.0 to finish at Rs6.60.