Pakistan stocks end flat as politics weighs

Pakistan stocks market witnessed another bearish trend on Tuesday as investors stayed on the sidelines, longing for an end to the standoff between the government and opposition political parties, dealers said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark 100-share Index closed up 11.75 points, or 0.03 percent, to 36,137.12 points. The highest index of the day remained at 36,390.25 points while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 36,101.64 points.

KSE 30-share Index, however, lowered 13.62 points, or 0.06 percent, to 21,065.09 points.

Turnover increased 54 million shares to 274.27 million shares.

Trading value rose to Rs11.41 billion from Rs7.52 billion and market capital improved to Rs7.40 trillion from Rs7.39 trillion. Of a total of 366 companies, 138 closed up, 206 ended down and 22 remained unchanged.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said pressure was in the selected scrips across the board on political noise and pre-budget uncertainty, ignoring the bullish sentiments in global equities.

A report said rally in exploration and production sector was witnessed on increased global crude oil prices due to disruption of supplies from Canada and Nigeria. Top performers of the sector were OGDC (up 1.51 percent) and PPL (rising 1.65 percent).

FEROZ (up five percent) hit its upper limit within the first trading hour on news that the firm got the regulator’s approval to produce Hepatitis C drugs.

Cement sector came under pressure as furnace oil prices rose 8.2 percent.

Marginal correction continued in scrips that are expected to be included in Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Market Index. UBL was down 0.04 percent. HUBC dropped 2.14 percent. LUCK decreased 1.19 percent.

Analyst Ahmed Saeed Khan at JS Global said volatility prevailed in the session, as the index initially rallied around 265 points but succumbed to pressure amid increased political noise.

Highest increase was recorded in Ferozsons (Lab). Its share value rose Rs44.39 to Rs932.27/share, followed by Sanofi-Aventis XD that increased Rs18 to Rs640/share. Major decline was noted in Unilever Foods. Its share price fell Rs100 to Rs5,125/share, followed by Bata (Pak) XD that decreased Rs100 to Rs3,300/share.

Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of Pak Int Bulk, TRG Pak Ltd, Dewan Motors, TPL Trakker Ltd, K-Electric Ltd, Bank of Punjab, Dewan Cement, Byco Petroleum, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited.

Pak Int Bulk remained the volume leader with 59.38 million shares with an increase of Rs1.40 to Rs32.17/share. It was followed by TRG Pak Ltd with 21.81 million shares with a decline of Rs1.20 to Rs35.91/share.

Shares’ turnover in the future contracts increased to 39.42 million shares from 30.04 million shares traded in the previous session.