KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) started the day in the green zone and moved both ways throughout the day where volatility was witnessed in most of the stocks, dealers said on Tuesday.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market remained range-bound on account of profit-booking, particularly in refinery, steel, cement and E&P sectors.
“[The] technology sector failed to bounce back in the past sessions and similar downtrend was witnessed today. E&P sector saw prominence of Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) on the back of anticipated dividend payout, whereas the fertiliser sector remained under pressure after less-than-anticipated takeaways from the recently announced budget.”
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) KSE-100 shares index sheds 0.19 per cent, or 93.52 points, to close at 48,632.56 points. The KSE-30 shares index sheds 0.11 per cent, or 22.41 points, to close at 19,625.02 points.
As many as 403 scrips were active, of which 143 advanced, 237 declined and 23 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 1.22 billion shares, compared with the turnover of 1.12 billion shares in the last trading session.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said the stocks closed bearish in the post-budget consolidation session, as investors weighed $27.488 billion trade deficit and concerns over the likely surge in local petroleum prices.
“[The] oil and cement stocks outperformed on surging global crude oil prices and Rs560 billion record development spending commitments in the Punjab Budget FY22. However, weak global equities and investors’ concerns over [the] falling rupee played a catalytic role in the bearish close.”
Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said the KSE-100 index stayed sideways, making a low and high of -215 and +115 points, respectively.
“K-Electric led the volume board, as media chatter suggested that the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) recently severed additional supply of electricity to Karachi Electric (KE) due to non-payment.”
The Southern Region cement manufacturers have announced to increase prices by Rs20/bag and consequently, the cement sector gained during the day.
From the refinery sector, Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL), down 5.1 per cent, National Refinery Limited (NRL), down 3.6 per cent and Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL), down 2.7 per cent, lost value to close in the red zone.
Meanwhile, the government allowed the resumption of business activities in the province for six days a week, amid declining Covid cases.
“Going forward, we expect the market to remain bullish on the back of economic and political stability,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.
The companies that reflected the highest gains included Wyeth Pakistan, up Rs39.97 to close at Rs2,196.81/share; and Indus Motor Company, up Rs27.2 to close at Rs1,346.23/share.
The companies, which reflected the most losses included Nestle Pakistan, down Rs68.99 to close at Rs5,730.01/share; and Sanofi Aventis, down Rs23 to end at Rs955/share.
Highest volumes were witnessed in K-Electric with a turnover of 312.97 million shares. The scrip gained 45 paisas to close at Rs4.69 share; followed by WorldCall Telecom with a turnover of 147.62 million shares, as it sheds 26 paisas to close at Rs3.97/share. Byco Petroleum was the third with a turnover of 129.35 million shares, as it gained 19 paisas to finish at Rs13.02.
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