Stocks end flat as investors book profits

Stocks ended flat on Thursday despite a robust session as investors chose to book profits at the end of the day with E&P and cement scrips stealing the limelight, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index inched up 0.11 percent or by 45.69 points to close at 40,803.89 points against 40,758.20 points recorded in the last session. Intraday high was 41,216.65 points, while intraday low was 40,668.48 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks showed bullish activity on easing political noise after Punjab Assembly secured Chief Minister on members’ vote of confidence and FM assurance over government not taking over commercial bank dollars.”

Midsession pressure remained on rupee instability, dismal data on auto sales falling by 44 percent YoY in December 2022 and reports of a surge in NSS rates.

He said that UAE’s $1 billion additional approval and deferred $2 billion loan repayment for financial support and speculations in the earnings season played a catalytic role in the bullish close.

KSE-30 index went down 0.29 percent or 43.50 points to stand at 15,097.51 points compared with 15,141.01 points recorded in the last session.

Trade volume dropped by 14 million shares to stand at 175.412 million shares from 189.373 million shares. Value dropped to Rs5.891 billion from Rs6.982 billion. Market capital expanded to Rs6.506 trillion from Rs6.491 trillion. Out of 326 companies active in the session, 165 closed in green, 140 in red and 21 remained unchanged.

Topline Securities said equities closed slightly positive where the index settled at the 40,803 points level (up 0.11 percent). Investors’ interest was mostly witnessed in the cement sector over declining international coal prices where Maple Leaf Cement, Cherat Cement, Lucky Cement and Pioneer Cement closed higher, which led the market to make an intraday high of 461 points. However, this positivity did not sustain at the bourse and profit taking was witnessed in the second half.

The highest increase was recorded in the shares of Nestle Pakistan, up Rs249.90 to close at Rs5,850/share, followed by Pak Services, up Rs140 to close at Rs2,045/share. A significant decline was noted in the shares of Pak Engineering, down Rs27.55 to stand at Rs339.80/share, followed by Shield Corp, down Rs20.42 to end at Rs257/share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd said a positive session was witnessed at the PSX on Thursday. “The market opened in the green and went on to reach an intraday high of 461.47 points before trading in the same range for the remainder of the day,” it reported. “However, during the final trading hour, investors chose to book profits on their positions, dragging the index down.”

Volumes remained robust across the board, however, the E&P and cement sectors remained in the limelight.

Sectors contributing to the performance included miscellaneous (+72.7 points), cements (+39.0 points), chemicals (+18.8 points), inv. banks/inv. cos./securities cos. (+16.9 points), and food and personal care products (+15.7 points).

WorldCall Telecom remained the volume leader with 12.621 million shares. Its scrip shed one paisa to stand at Rs1.17/share. It was followed by Pak Refinery with 9.803 million shares that closed higher by two paisas to Rs14.02/share.

Other stocks that recorded significant turnover included Al Shaheer (R), Pak Petroleum, Maple Leaf, Shabbir Tiles, OGDC, Cnergyico, Lotte Chemical and Nishat Chunian Power.

Shares’ turnover in the future contracts decreased to 44.378 million shares from 44.695 million shares previously.