Lull prevails at PSX amid lack of triggers

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another dull and range-bound session on Wednesday as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines in the absence of triggers, dealers said.

Analyst Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said equities closed another session dull and little changed. “Notable names across financial, fertiliser and cement sectors closed mostly in red, while oil sector on the flip side traded in green in line with the higher global crude prices,” Raza said.

The KSE 100-share Index of PSX gained 0.04 percent or 18.18 points to close at 50,162.81 points.

KSE 30-shares Index shed 0.03 percent or 8.95 points to end at 26,237.36 points.

As many as 369 shares were active; of which 186 increased, 167 decreased and 16 remained unchanged.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Limited said stocks closed marginally higher amid thin trade as investors bought oil stocks after rebound in global crude prices.

“Auto, steel and cement stocks outperformed (others) on a likely impact of Orange Cab Scheme and development commitments in provincial budgets,” Mehanti said.

“However, concerns over foreign outflows invited intra-day pressure.” Dealers said limited institutional activity was seen in the Index names with benchmark KSE 100 recording volumes of just under 60 million shares, while retail participation somewhat improved with the most volumes going through in consumer discretionary and industrial plays.

The ready market volumes stood at 232.508 million shares as compared with 231.737 million shares a day earlier. Companies, reflecting highest gains, included Sanofi Aventis up Rs86 to close at Rs2,086/share and HinoPak Motor that rose Rs78.76 to end at Rs1,708.13/share.

Companies, with most losses, included Colgate Palmolive down Rs91.16 to end at Rs2,310/share and Indus Motor Company that fell Rs21.04 to close at Rs1,977.34/share.

Analysts expect range-bound trading to continue in the near-term owing to dearth of positive triggers with locals institutions likely continuing to track foreign funds and trade in the select Index names.

Highest volumes were witnessed in Dewan Farooque Spinning with a turnover of 23.285 million shares. The share shed Re1 to close at Rs9.14/share. Engro Polymer was the second with a turnover of 21.275 million shares. It gained Rs1.72 to end at Rs36.28/share. Power Cement (R) was the third with a turnover of 19.68 million shares. It shed 30 paisas to finish at Rs1.92/share.