Stocks see-saw to end scarcely changed

Stocks swung both ways to end flat on Thursday as political and economic uncertainties worsened amid rupee’s wretched double century versus dollar, traders said.

KSE-100 Shares Index, the benchmark of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), lost 43.43 points or 0.10 percent decline to close at 42,983.45.

The tough political environment is putting a strain on policymaking and stable economic growth, aggravating issues such as fiscal consolidation, managing an external account, and smoothing the monetary policy, analysts at Spectrum Research said.

“Prolonged political instability is likely to stymie efforts to get external funding from major financial institutions and friendly countries,” Spectrum Research added.

As a result, the brokerage said, the country’s capital markets went into severe depression as KSE-100 Index touched its 3-year low of 42,273 points level, while interest rates in the money market touched their highest level of 15.18 percent (6-month T-Bill) since January 30, 2009.

Simply, the end of these uncertainties would boost investors’ confidence.

The index traded in a range of 313.12 points or 0.73 percent of the last close, hitting an intraday high of 43,258.59 and a low of 42,945.47 points.

The positive opening was powered by the GDP growth figure of 5.97 percent for fiscal year 2021-22, released by the National Accounts Committee (NAC).

According to the final GDP figures of the National Accounts Committee, Pakistan’s Real GDP growth stands at 5.97 percent for 2021-22 mainly due to sizable growth in agriculture, industrial sector & services sector.

Despite external shocks and high inflation, Pakistan's real GDP growth remained the highest in the last 4 years.

The size of Pakistan's economy crossed Rs67 trillion or $383 billion in 2021-22 according to NAC.

Pearl Securities in its market wrap said despite a 29bps reduction in treasury bills cut-off yields in yesterday’s auction, the benchmark index failed to sustain Wednesday’s momentum.

JS Research said the bourse witnessed range-bound activity today with a movement 317 points. The Index opened with a positive gap, but failed to sustain its momentum, the brokerage said.

Ghani Global Holdings was the volume leader with 15.1 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 13.39 million shares, and Silkbank with 13.1 million shares.

A major volumetric support came from SILK, TELE and CNERGY, while total traded volume was recorded at 187 million shares.

“Going forward, we believe the market is weak. It is therefore advisable to stay aside,” the JS Research analysts said.

The market after a small initial hiccup headed upward as investors weighed sentiment on an encouraging economic growth reading.

However, midday profit-taking flattened the index.

Topline Securities in a post-market note said after yesterday’s recovery, equities witnessed a mixed session.

Initially, the brokerage said, the market opened on a negative note and hit an intraday low of 42,939 points, down 88 points or 0.20 percent.

Then value hunting kicked and the index rose to 43,256, up 229 points or 0.59 percent, before settling at 42,984 points, down 43 points or 0.10 percent, for the day, the brokerage said.

Chemical, fertiliser, and power sector stocks remained in the limelight, the brokerage said, adding that EPCL, ENGRO, EFERT, FFC, and HUBC added 76 points to the index, cumulatively. On the flip side, HBL, PPL, and MARI lost 39 points to profit-taking.