Stocks edge higher in cautious trade, lack of triggers weighs

Stocks closed slightly higher in a range-bound trade on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious amid a lack of positive triggers dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)’s benchmark KSE-100 index rose 0.28 percent or 129.72 points to 46,756.80 points, after touching an intraday high of 46,820.72 points. The total volume of the KSE-100 Index was 95.173 million shares.

Dealers said the market was range-bound and lacked direction, as there was no major news flow to drive the sentiment Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks inched up on upbeat data on cement, auto, and fertilizer sales for September 2023 and a shrinking trade deficit. However, mid-session pressure remained on high CPI inflation number for September, global equity selloff, and a slump in global crude oil prices.

On the economic front, the consumer price index (CPI) for the month of September 2023 clocked in at 31.4 percent year-over-year, compared to 27.4 percent in the previous month, and rose by 2 percent month-over-month.

Trade deficit for the month of September was $1.489 billion, compared to a deficit of $2.162 billion from the previous month, improving by 31.13 percent month-on-month and 47.86 percent year-on-year. The rupee maintained its upward trajectory, gaining an additional Rs1.04 against the US dollar.

Darson Securities in a market note said that the benchmark index gained 129.72 points as positive sentiment dominated the local equity market for the third successive session.

UNITY's stock price dropped sharply by approximately 2.88 percent following its announcement of a 69 percent profit decline in fiscal year 2023. It also saw increased trading activity, as it ranked fourth in trading volume today.

Of the 100 index companies, 48 closed up, 38 closed down, 9 were unchanged, while 5 remained untraded.

The index was supported by Fertilizer (+84.1 points), Commercial Banks (+50.97 points), Cement (+17.56 points), Power Generation & Distribution (+10.62 points), and Automobile Assembler (+6.19 points).

Companies adding points to the index were ENGRO (+42.87 points), EFERT (+40.8 points), MCB (+25.28 points), BAHL (+17.95 points), and LUCK (+10.93 points).

Companies dragging the index lower were OGDC (-15.1 points), SYS (-10.67 points), DAWH (-8.27 points), FATIMA (-7.1 points), and UBL (-7.07 points).

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 31,428.22 with a net gain of 55.29 points. Total market volume was 213.188 million shares, compared to 202.599 million shares from the previous session. Traded value was recorded at Rs6.09 billion, showing a decrease of Rs1.31 billion.

There were 99,862 trades reported in 326 companies, with 142 closing up, 154 closing down, and 30 remaining unchanged.

Brokerage Arif Habib Limited in a post-trading commentary said that another green day for the benchmark index, with key movers being ENGRO (+2.23 percent), EFERT (+3.09 percent), and MCB (+1.63 percent).

The brokerage house noted that the ability to regain 47,000 points level this week would bode well for additional gains in the coming weeks.