Market watch
Benchmark index rises 33.42 points to settle at 47,480.50
KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued with range-bound activity on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 33.42 points (+0.07 percent) to close at 47,480.49 points.
The market opened on a positive note but moved between green and red zones, finally ending the session positively. The KSE-100 Index traded in a range of 146.2 points, showing an intraday high of 47,586 points and a low of 47,439.8 points.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 6.37 points (+0.02 percent) to close at 32,434.47 points, while All Share Islamic Index gained 15.05 points (+0.06 percent) to close at 23,230.99 points.
A total of 383 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 163 closed up, shares of 199 closed down while shares of 21 companies remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 21.83 million to 496.82 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 18,203 to 148,132, and value traded increased by Rs1.92 billion to Rs16.24 billion. The market cap increased by Rs1.62 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 48 million shares, followed by GGGL (37.5 million) and TPL (28.4 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, GGGL, TPL, FFL and TPLP, which formed 32 percent of total volumes.
The sectors propping up the index were technology & communication with 36 points, investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies with 25 points, commercial banks with 17 points, fertilizer with 13 points and paper & board with 8 points. The most points added to the index were by PSX which contributed 21 points followed by SYS with 18 points, TRG with 16 points, BAHL with 16 points and CEPB with 8 points.
The sector wise, the index was let down by oil & gas exploration companies with 17 points, automobile assembler with 15 points, power generation & distribution with 10 points, food & personal care products with 10 points and oil & gas marketing companies with 9 points. The most points taken off the index were by PPL which stripped the index of 10 points followed by MCB with 9 points, KAPCO with 8 points, OGDC with 7 points and COLG with 7 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the investors maintained a cautious approach towards building positions, in the wake of Capital Gain Tax (CGT) liability that is due to be settled by mid of the month, whereby investors anticipate sell off by other than corporate and institutional investors.
They said that technology sector led the index with NETSOL hitting upper circuit and brisk trading in TRG & SYS. Power sector remained muted due to concerns over Petroleum Division’s stance on payments to IPPs under Power Policy of 2002.
Topline Securities in its closing note said the market participants initially cheered a higher remittance number for June 2021 (up 8 percent MOM) but Covid-related concerns coupled with the Afghan conflict continued to keep the market gains in check.
