Stocks end flat as rupee takes more hammering

Stocks barely changed on Tuesday as fresh rupee losses and reports of heavy IMF-dictated taxation in the budget spooked investors out of the market, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Share Index closed with a decline of 8.80 points or 0.02 percent to 41,568.41 points. The index hit a day high of 41,854.25 and a low of 41,522.23 points.

A post-session report of Arif Habib Ltd said a range-bound secession was observed amid rupee depreciation and fears of new taxes in the budget.

“The volumes remained dry in the main board although 3rd tier stocks continued positive momentum,” it said.

Sectors that dragged the index down included banks (-21.0 points), technology (20.5 points), power (-13.1 points), vanaspati & allied (-11.9 points), and investment banks (-8.7 points).

KSE-30 Shares Index also decreased 18.91 points or 0.12 percent to 15,849.40 points compared with 15,868.31 points recorded in the last session.

Traded shares decreased 32 million shares to 157.436 million shares from 189.245 million shares.

The trading value dropped to Rs4.224 billion from Rs4.901 billion. Market capital, however, expanded to Rs6.956 trillion from Rs6.948 trillion.

Out of 329 companies active in the session, 128 closed in green, 180 in red, while 21 remained unchanged.

Ali Najib, an analyst at Topline Securities, said equities witnessed a mixed trend as all eyes were now on the upcoming budget scheduled for Friday, June 10, 2022. “Investors opted to stay on the sidelines which forced the index to slide,” he said.

Banks, tech, food and power sector stocks contributed negatively to the benchmark index where HBL, TRG, UNITY & HUBC lost 57 points, cumulatively.

On the flip side, NML, SNGP, and MARI saw some buying interest as they added 44 points collectively.

The highest increase was recorded in shares of Colgate Palm, which rose by Rs49 to Rs2,189 per share, followed by Blessed Textile, which increased by Rs32 to Rs512/share.

A major decline was noted in the shares of Reliance Cotton, which

fell by Rs20.60 to Rs257.50/share, followed by Jubilee Life Insurance, which decreased by Rs11.97 to Rs153.03/share.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed lower on investor concerns over a slump in rupee and surging energy prices.

Reports of circular debt touching Rs2.5 trillion and Rs300 billion new tax measures expected in the federal budget FY23 to resume IMF bailout led to bearish close, he said.

TPL Properties was the volume leader with 17.453 million shares. The script closed higher by 27 paisas to Rs18.82/share.

It was followed by Unity Foods Ltd with 15.525 million shares. The food company dropped by Re1.0 to Rs20.07/share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Pakistan Refinery, Oilboy Energy (R), Sui North Gas, Dost Steels Ltd., WorldCall Telecom, Telecard Limited, Nishat Mills Ltd, and Ghani Global Holding. Turnover in the future contracts decreased to 63.874 million shares from 80.078 million.