Stocks close flat on tighter regulation; volume falls

Stocks closed flat on Tuesday and trading volumes shrank after the securities regulator vowed to step up its campaign to protect investors - moves that would benefit the market in the long term, but hurt sentiment in the short run, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed slightly higher on investor speculations for likely resolution of leverage issues at the bourse. “Rumors on likely new regulatory measures over defaulting brokers invited mid-session pressure.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) KSE-100 shares index gained 0.03 percent or 13.48 points to close at 48,534.23 points.

KSE-30 shares index shed 0.13 percent or 34.35 points to end at 26,320.51 points. As many as 404 scrips were active of which 159 advanced, 237 declined and 8 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 228.603 million as compared to 250.993 million shares a day earlier. Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said equities finished the day with little changed after witnessing a dull session where less than 90 million shares exchanged hands on the benchmark index.

“Stocks opened listless and traded in a narrow range as investors both institutional and retail stayed on the sidelines for most part of the day in absence of major triggers, amid increasing headwinds from domestic politics and tightening regulations.”

The final two hours, however took investors on a roller coaster ride as the index first nosedived 0.75 percent followed by recovery that wiped all the day's losses on reported institutional buying.

On leader-board, Engro Corp (ENGRO) up 1.8 percent, contributed most positive points followed by International Steels (ISL) up 4.6 percent and Sui Northern Gas Company (SNGP) up 3.7 percent while dent came primarily from select index heavy blue-chip shares on reported locals selling.

Going forward, analysts expect market to carry momentum from the day’s late recovery and inch upwards along with index names and retail plays seeing better participation in days ahead.

Companies reflecting highest gains include Rafhan Maize up by Rs90 to end at Rs7800/share and Pakistan Tobacco up Rs61.78 to end at Rs1297.49/share.

Companies reflecting highest losses include Nestle Pakistan down Rs295 to Rs9155/share and Unilever Foods down Rs75 to end at Rs5750/share. Highest volumes were witnessed in Aisha Steel with a turnover of 17.093 million shares.

The scrip shed 34 paisas to close at Rs23.43/share. K-Electric was second with a turnover of 14.44 million shares. It shed 02 paisas to end at Rs9.53/share. Power Cement was third with a turnover of 14.408 million shares. It shed 81 paisas to finish at Rs16.94/share.