Stocks sluggish as investors stick to sidelines

Stocks on Thursday started with a sideways drift but later made some gains that were capped by late profit-booking ahead of eid holidays, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Shares Index could only manage to gain 136.79 points or 0.29 percent to close at 47,628.26 points, while it tested a day high of 47,736.13 points and a low of 47,388.55 points.

Zafar Moti, former director PSX, said the market kept going up and down during the session.

“The market remained directionless ahead of last working day of the week (Friday).”

Moti said there were concerns over Taliban issue as it was not good news for Pakistan. “Petrol prices are increasing. There is a liquidity crunch while real picture of the stocks will become clear after Eid,” Moti added.

KSE-30 Shares Index also gained 73.33 points or 0.39 percent to end at 19,118.99 points, showing yet another dull performance.

Muhammad Arbash, analyst at Topline Securities, said after sideways opening the index remained positive with low volumes where market made an intraday high of 245 points.

Major positivity came from OGDC on rumors of discovery in Waziristan, Arbash said. He added that TRG, and UNITY closed higher collectively contributing 42 points to the index.

Trade volumes shrank two million shares to 506.29 million against 508.28 million shares, whereas traded value dropped to Rs15.48 billion against Rs16.04 billion. Market capital slightly rose to Rs8.297 trillion from Rs8.283 trillion. As many as 425 companies were active in the session, of which 234 advanced, 174 declined, while 17 remained unchanged.

Ahsan Mehanti, analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks closed higher on strong earnings outlook.

Oil stocks were battered on slump in global crude oil prices and weak global equities, he said.

Reports over Pakistan Stock Brokers Association petition stay over scrips excluding future eligibility criteria, surge in investments and banking deposits in FY21 amid $29.4 billion record remittances, SBP reserves reaching over $18.2 billion and foreign inflows helped stocks end bullish, Mehanti said.

Wyeth Pak Ltd emerged as the best gainer of the day, rising Rs150.37 to end at Rs2,155.37 per share, followed by Unilever Foods, up Rs140 to close at Rs1,6,489 per share.

Major losses were suffered by Rafhan Maize, down Rs450 to close at Rs9,950 per share, followed by Pakistan Tobacco that lost Rs71.17 to finish at Rs1,226.83 per share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Limited in a report said after consolidating in the past couple of sessions, the index regained confidence on the back of OGDC, PSO, and technology sector; however, profit-booking dented the index by the end of session.

Cement, fertiliser, and refinery sectors came under selling pressure, whereas steel, chemical and banking sector stocks contributed positively to the index. Flat steel players, i.e., ASL and ISL, were seen on ascent.

WorldCall Telecom, K-Electric Ltd, TPL Corp Ltd, Pak Int Bulk, TPL Properties, Unity Foods Ltd, Ghani Global Glass, Al-Shaheer Corp, Hascol Petrol and Treet Corp saw significant trade in the day.

WorldCall Telecom was the highest traded share with 50.82 million shares. The telecom lost 7 paisas to close at Rs3.35 per share. It was followed by K-Electric Ltd that posted a turnover of 38.93 million shares, up 15 paisas to close at Rs4.06 per share.

Turnover in the future contracts increased to 80.92 million shares from 75.70 million shares traded in the previous session.