Profit sales drag stocks from record levels

Stocks fell on Tuesday as traders opted to cash in gains as the market traded near a record high, with subdued global oil prices providing no buying support, dealers said. The added that the market witnessed across the board profit taking  after a four-day straight bullish run as investors opted to square their positions ahead of rollover week.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Limited said the market had gained around 4,000 points after Panama case decision and “a correction was overdue.”  “Declining oil prices, dismal export numbers and pressure of rollover week played a catalytic role in negative close,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark KSE-100 shares index shed 0.65 percent or 326.50 points to close at 49,785.17 points. KSE-30 shares index shed 1.1 percent or 294.42 points to end at 26,350.19 points. As many as 394 scrips were active of which 138 advanced, 239 declined and 17 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 381.346 million shares as compared to 399.458 million shares a day earlier. Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said equities took a breather after four-straight sessions of gains and settled below 50K on across-the-board profit-taking.

“Market opened and traded positive for a brief period as morning gains led KSE-100 Index to test 50,300 levels,” he added. “ Index, however couldn't sustain gains for long and steadily declined to test support at 49,500 level as investors understandably took advantage of recent highs and booked profits in the wider market.” Pak Suzuki (PSMC,) up 5.0 percent, continued its winning streak, opening at upper price limit for second consecutive session on recent announcement of another taxi scheme.

Moreover, the earnings announced by PSMC near market close also beat expectations by wide margin. Hub Power (HUBCO) down 2.5 percent, Engro Corp (ENGRO) down 2.3 percent and Pakistan Petroleum (PPL) down 2.9 percent emerged as top three laggards of the day; all cumulatively contributing nearly half of points to Index decline. Meanwhile, Mari Petroleum (MARI) down 1.2 percent and Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) down 1.4 percent both closed lower with former announcing subpar earnings.

Going forward, analysts see market entering in a consolidation phase and see range-bound trading in near term where 50K level will likely provide immediate resistance to the index. Ongoing results season however will keep investor interest intact in the wider market. Companies reflecting highest gains include Rafhan Maize up by Rs150 to end at Rs7350/share and Phillip Morris Pakistan up Rs100 to end at Rs2700/share.

Companies reflecting highest losses include Unilever Foods down Rs140 to Rs6110/share and Wyeth Pakistan down Rs55.24 to end at Rs2471.51/share. Highest volumes were witnessed in Engro Polymer with a turnover of 30.92 million shares. The scrip gained 28 paisas to close at Rs29.13/share. Summit Bank was second with a turnover of 29.786 million shares. It gained 43 paisas to end at Rs4.75/share. Azgard Nine was third with a turnover of 28.706 million shares. It gained Rs1.0 to finish at Rs14.12/share.