Stocks on Friday managed some modest gains in range-bound trade, mostly supported by stronger-than-expected financial results, traders said.
Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Shares Index closed higher by 139.33 points or 0.30 percent to 46,079.37 points after swinging between an intraday high of 46,144.49 and a low of 45,838.75 points.
Ahsan Mehanti, at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks ended positive in thin trade as investors priced in strong earnings outlook.”
Reports of MSCI Frontier 100 and MSCI Frontier Markets 15% Country Capped indexes in May, and surging global crude oil prices kept the stocks buoyant, Mehanti said.
KSE-30 Shares Index followed the broader market to gain 30.20 points or 0.17 percent to end at 17,968.10 points against 17,937.90 points.
Ready market trade volume, however, decreased 115 million shares to 170,62 million from 285.96 million on Thursday.
The traded value dropped to Rs7.72 billion from Rs9.27 billion.
Market capital expanded to Rs7.875 trillion from Rs7.845 trillion.
Out of 358 active scripts in the session, 143 rose, 195 fell, while 20 maintained status quo.
Topline Securities Ltd in a note said the index traded in a narrow range between a day high of 204 and low of 101 points.
MARI, UBL, MEBL, PSEL, and HBL, cumulatively contributed 140 points to the index, while PSO, ENGRO, EFERT, OGDC, and ISL, lost 102 points, the brokerage said.
PSO in its 2QFY22 result announcement posted EPS (earning per share) of Rs43.02, which was higher than market expectations on account of huge inventory gains and penal income during the quarter.
However, PSO’s share price fell following the announcement, as investors punished the oil marketing company for not announcing any payout for the quarter.
Rafhan Maize rose Rs300 to Rs10,900 per share to end up as the best performing stock in terms of share price, followed by Nestle Pakistan that jumped Rs100.09 to Rs5,600.10 per share.
Sapphire Fiber took the worst battering of the day as it fell Rs74.62 to Rs920.38 per share, while Ismail Industries, losing Rs43.59 to end at Rs537.69 per share, was the second biggest loser of the session.
JS Research said the market traded sideways with volumes hovering around 171 million shares.
“We see the market range-bound in the days to come and advise booking profits at current levels,” the brokerage suggested.
According to Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association’s (PAMA) latest production and sales data, passenger car sales surged 62 percent year-on-year as 16,984 units were sold in January 2022 compared to 14,543 in January 2021.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 11.98 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 11.42 million shares.
Pakistan’s fiscal deficit widened 21 percent to Rs 1.372 trillion in July-December FY2022, as compared to Rs1.138 billion in the same period last fiscal year mainly due to rise in expenditures and drop in non-tax revenues year-on-year. Whereas quarter-on-quarter, fiscal deficit also increased 113 percent during October-December compared to July-September 2021-22.
Stocks that recorded significant turnover included TRG Pak Ltd, Telecard Limited, TPL Properties, Dolmen City XD, Invest Bank, Ghani Glo Hol, Engro Powergen, and Hum Network.
Turnover in the futures contracts decreased to 44.43 million shares from 91.79 million.