Stocks wobble as political crisis worsens

By Our Correspondent
September 29, 2022

Stocks edged down on Wednesday as investors opted to book profits amid resurging political uncertainty, traders said.

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The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Share Index closed lower by 83.10 points or 0.20 percent to 41,435.13 points after hitting a day high of 41,820.89 and a low of 41,382.56 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said stocks closed lower on global equity selloff and concerns for the political noise.”

Higher government bond yields and investor concerns for $30 billion flood damages, reports of dismal LSMI output data and falling FDIs fostered bearish sentiments among investors, he said.

However, according to Mehanti, midsession support came from rupee recovery and speculations over the appointment of Ishaq Dar as the new finance minister and his ability for coming up with novel economic policies.

The KSE-30 index also eased by 57.67 points or 0.37 percent to 15,504.26 points.

Trade volume contracted by 10 million shares to 220.560 million from 230.658 million shares, while value dropped to Rs8.028 billion from Rs9.623 billion. Market capital shrank to Rs6.813 trillion from Rs6.824 trillion. As many as 138 companies advanced, 165 retreated, and 34 ended unchanged in the trading session.

Topline Securities in a note said the day kicked off on a positive note continuing yesterday’s momentum with the index making an intraday high of 302 points.

“However, this positivity failed to sustain as profit-taking reversed the early gains,” the brokerage said.

Major negative contributors were SYS and TRG that cumulatively dented the index by 57 points.

On the results front, SNGP announced its 3QFY22 EPS (earning per share) at Rs4 along with a DPS (dividend per share) of Rs2.5.

Bata (Pakistan) emerged as the top gainer of the day after surging Rs110.71 to Rs2,289 per share, followed by Colgate Palmolive, up Rs36.99 to Rs2,140 per share. The worst hit stock was Sapphire Fiber as it slumped by R94.53 to Rs1,165.97 per share, followed by Sapphire Fiber, down Rs94.53 to Rs1,165.97 per share.

Arif Habib Ltd, in its post-session analysis report, said profit-taking weighed down on the index as the political crisis was worsening in the country, while mainboard volumes continued to remain decent.

Sectors contributing to the performance included technology (-57.3 points), fertilizer (-30.1 points), E&Ps (-24.6 points), engineering (-7.1 points) and automobile assemblers (-7.1 points), the brokerage said.

TPL Properties was the volume leader with 29.302 million shares. It rose by 31 paisas to Rs21.47 per share. Cnergyico PK with 17.890 million shares was right behind the realtor. The refinery closed lower by one paisa to Rs5.01 per share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Ghani Global Holding, K-Electric Ltd, Sui North Gas, G3 TechnologiesXR, Fauji Foods Ltd, and WorldCall Telecom.

Turnover in the futures contracts increased to 203.003 million shares from 180.896 million shares.

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