Benchmark index dips 0.07% to settle at 40,154.11
TLTP
KARACHI
Bears staged a comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 29.9 points (-0.07 percent) to reach 40,154.11 points.
The KSE-100 index endured a range-bound session, which ended on a bearish note. Selling pressure was noted in cement, auto, banking and fertilizer sectors. Volumes declined from 458.8 million shares to 427.2 million shares, down 7 percent day-on-day. Average traded value also fell by 10 percent to $110.4 million against $123.2 million a day earlier.
Shares of 400 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 157 stocks closed higher, 223 declined and 20 remained unchanged.
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal was the volume leader with 26.2 million shares, losing Rs0.15 to close at Rs12.36. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 22.7 million shares, losing Rs2.13 to close at Rs49.87 and Power Cement (R) with 20.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.07 to close at Rs0.56.
However, Engro Corporation in the fertilizer sector, which announced its financial results for the quarter and half-year ended June 30, 2020 towards the end of the session, erased some of the losses.
Moreover, rupee depreciation against the US dollar coupled with uncertainty in international oil markets dented investors’ sentiment.
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market remained range bound between -119 points and +241 points and closed the session in the red. Exploration and production stocks mainly added points to the index whereas cement and banking sector stocks faced selling pressure, it said.
The cement sector posted volumes of 75.4 million shares, followed by technology firms (54.5 million) and oil and gas marketing companies (40.3 million).
Sectors contributing to the market performance included fertiliser (+63 points), exploration and production (+40 points), oil and gas marketing companies (+10 points), cement (-25 points), technology (-23 points), auto (-21 points), power (-20 points) and banking (-20 points).
Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index were Engro (+40 points), Pakistan Oilfields Limited (+18 points), Engro Fertilisers (+14 points), OGDC (+10 points) and Fauji Fertiliser Company (+10 points).
Stocks that contributed negatively included TRG Pakistan (-23 points), Hubco (-21 points), Indus Motor (-10 points), DG Khan Cement (-10 points) and Shifa International Hospitals (-8 points).
JS Global analyst Danish Ladhani said the market traded sideways with fertilizer and exploration and production stocks being the major movers whereas banking and cement sectors were the major laggards.
Moreover, profit-taking was witnessed in Hubco (-1.1%) as the company announced consolidated FY20 earnings per share of Rs19.31 versus Rs9.37 in the same period of last year with no cash dividend, Ladhani added.
Pak Suzuki Motor Company (-4.3%) closed in the red as the company announced 1HCY20 loss per share of Rs29.92 versus loss per share of Rs18.53 in the same period of last year with no cash dividend.
“Going forward, we expect the market to trade sideways ahead of the rollover week with intra-day corrections and recommend investors to sell on strength,” the analyst said.
