Stocks end flat as investors assess earning reports

Stocks edged slightly higher in dull trade on Monday as investors took a breather after a rift of mixed quarterly earnings, dealers said.

They added that lackluster prevailed and investors preferred to remain on the sidelines in absence of triggers amid Panama case saga. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed marginally higher amid thin trade on late session support in cement, fertilizer and auto scrips.

“Concerns over rising government borrowings and rising circular debt invited mid-session pressure,” he added. “However, strong earnings announcements in cement, steel and auto sectors supported the index to close above days low.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark KSE-100 shares index gained 0.15 percent or 74.21 points to close at 49,630.04 points. KSE-30 shares index gained 0.33 percent or 89.25 points to end at 26,806.01 points. As many as 422 scrips were active of which 189 advanced, 205 declined and 28 remained unchanged.

Abrar Juma at Global Research said the local bourse continued to remain directionless for majority of day’s session amid thin participation as volumes fell 17 percent. “Investors are likely to remain on sidelines due to the ongoing Panama Case saga with the 50k level acting as a continuous resistance barrier.” International Steels Limited (ISL), up 5.0 percent, continued to hit its upper-limit for the fourth consecutive session and contributed 25 points on company’s announcement of an expansion to its cold rolling plant. TRG, up 4.41 percent, has also trended upwards and contributed 22 points after the company announced the listing of its subsidiary, Affinity.  Other top contributors emerged as HBL (up 1.62 percent), UBL (up 1.52 percent) and Honda Car (up 4.97 percent) with a cumulative contribution of 83 points. Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said wider market recorded a dull spell as most index names saw little interest on selective institutional participation, while retail investors also mostly stayed on the sidelines with ongoing investigations by Security and Exchange regulator (SECP) against non-compliant brokers becoming a cause of concern. “Major sectors including cements and financials closed mixed while oils ended mostly in red on profit-taking”.

Meanwhile, Pakistan State Oil (down 2.9 percent) took a beating and closed lower as the company omitted paying any dividends despite announcing higher than consensus earnings. The ready market volumes stood at 281.492 million as compared to 338.184 million shares a day earlier.

Companies reflecting highest gains include Sanofi Aventis up by Rs125.99 to end at Rs2645.86/share and Unilever Foods up Rs75 to end at Rs5800/share. Companies reflecting highest losses include Island Textile down Rs50.10 to Rs1077.08/share and Archroma Pakistan down Rs36.34 to end at Rs694.81/share.

Highest volumes were witnessed in Lotte Chemicals with a turnover of 42.748 million shares. The scrip gained Rs1.0 to close at Rs10.45/share. TRG Pakistan was second with a turnover of 28.345 million shares. It gained Rs2.45 to end at Rs61.21/share. K-Electric was third with a turnover of 17.51 million shares. It shed 06 paisas to finish at Rs10.46/share.