Stocks end flat on profit-taking in blue-chips

Stocks on Thursday closed flat on profit-taking in the index heavyweights, while continued trading in the sideboard shares pushed up the volume, dealers said.

Analyst Hammad Aman at Topline Securities, said profit-taking in some stocks led the local index close flat after making an intraday high of 41,446 points. 

“Banking stocks like Habib Bank Limited and MCB Bank Limited declined one percent and 1.6 percent, respectively,” Aman said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark 100-share Index closed down 1.29 points to 41,252.17 points as against 41,253.46 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 41,447.10 points, while the lowest level of the day was recorded at 41,231.81 points. KSE 30-share Index decreased 24.32 points to end at 22,733.84 points.  Turnover, however, surged 117 million shares to 774.86 million shares. Trading value rose to Rs18.12 billion from Rs17.99 billion and the market capital also remained flat at Rs8.38 trillion. Out of 462 companies, 218 closed up, 229 ended down and 15 remained unchanged. Profit-taking led Ghand Nissan Limited, Millat Tractors Limited and Pak Suzuki Motors to decline between 1.1 percent and 2.1 percent. Interest in engineering stocks made Mughal Steel, Inter Steel Limited and Int Ind Limited to close at their upper limits of five percent.  Analyst Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said equities closed a little changed after trading volatile with the benchmark index witnessing swings in a narrow range of 205 points. Trading activity was upbeat in the wider market with volumes on KSE All-share Index crossing the 800 million shares level, up 30 percent over the previous day. “Market opened positive, led by gains in the select Index names that pushed KSE 100 Index to test all-time high of 41,446, however stocks couldn't sustain the run and traded volatile with notable index heavy names coming under selling pressure,” Raza said.   HBL and MCB cumulatively dented the index by more than 50 points, while Dawood Hercules (up 5.0 percent), DG Khan Cement (up 1.4 percent) and United Bank (up 0.6 percent) countered the declines and cumulatively added 70 points to the index.

Highest increase was recorded in Wyeth Pak Ltd. Its share value rose Rs133.12 to Rs2,795.65/share, followed by Nestle Pakistan that was up Rs90 to Rs7,690/share.

Major decrease was noted in Hinopak Motor. Its share price fell Rs67.62 to Rs1,596.84/share, followed by Murree Brewery XD that was down Rs56.45 to Rs1,228.80/share.

Significant turnover was recorded in stocks of WorldCall Telecom, Bank of Punjab, Pace (Pak) Ltd, Telecard Limited, Pakistan International Airlines (A), Jahangir Siddiqui Co, Aisha Steel Mill, Lotte Chemical, Azgard Nine and Dewan Cement.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 80.74 million shares with an increase of 37 paisas to Rs3.15/share. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 76.99 million shares with a decrease of 31 paisas to Rs15.70/share. Shares’ turnover in the future contracts rose to 65.89 million shares from 57.23 million shares traded in the previous session.