Stocks slip as cautious investors stay on sidelines

Stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors remained cautious on account of macroeconomic worries, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share index declined 0.44 percent or 167.68 points to closed at 41,651.61 points against 41,819.29 points recorded in the last session. Intraday high was 41,929.96 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 41,597.32 points.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said a range-bound session was witnessed at the PSX. “The market opened in the green zone but failed to maintain momentum since the investors chose to remain on the sidelines given the country’s current macroeconomic situation, resulting in the benchmark KSE-100 index closing in the red,” it reported.

Volumes on the mainboard dried up as activity remained subdued, though third-tier stocks remained in the spotlight.

KSE-30 index also decreased by 68.07 points or 0.44 percent to stand at 15,380.05 points compared with 15,448.12 points recorded in the last session.

Traded shares increased by 6 million to stand at 227.834 million shares, up from 221.489 million shares previously. Trading value dropped to Rs4.059 billion from Rs5.863 billion. Market capital expanded to Rs6.629 trillion from Rs6.658 trillion.

Out of 330 companies active in the session, 104 closed in green, 205 in red and 21 remained unchanged.

Analyst Ali Najib at Topline Securities said investors opted for some profit-taking in the latter half of the day, which pushed the benchmark towards an intraday low of 41,599 (-220 points; down 0.53 percent) before eventually settling at 41,652 (-168 points; down 0.40 percent) for the day.

During the day, TRG, Meezan Bank, Systems Limited, Hubco and Pakistan Oilfields lost 100 points, cumulatively. On the flip side, Pakistan Services, Dawood Hercules Corporation and Engro saw some buying interest as they added 69 points collectively.

The highest increase was recorded in the shares of Pak Services, up Rs78.63 to close at Rs1,127.40/share, followed by Blessed Tex, up Rs14.99 to close at Rs365/share. A significant decline was noted in the shares of Sanofi-Aventis, down Rs78.75 to end at Rs971.25/share, followed by Shield Corp, down Rs23.09 to end at Rs284.91/share.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks closed under pressure as investors weigh JP Morgan report projecting SBP policy rate to surge by 400bps by end of

FY23 to 20 percent under IMF pressure on inflation, tapered remittances and OICCI business confidence index survey hitting negative 4 percent.”

Rupee instability and concerns for economic uncertainty played a catalytic role in the bearish close, he said.

Sectors contributing to the performance included technology and communication (-55.8 points), commercial banks (-36.7 points), cement (-35.8 points), power generation and distribution (-24.2 points), and pharmaceuticals (-21.2 points).

Kohinoor Spinning remained the volume leader with 25.274 million shares which increased by 42 paisas to stand at Rs3.57/share. It was followed by Hum Network with 23.689 million shares. Its scrip closed up 49 paisas to close at Rs6.03/share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Hascol Petrol, Dewan Farooque Sp, Dewan Cement, Dewan Motors, WorldCall Telecom, Hira Textile, Agritech Limited, and TPL Properties.

Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 30.564 million shares from 44.506 million shares in the last session.