Stocks succumb to dismal reports in trigger-less trade

Stocks on Friday buckled under the bearish sentiments sparked off by concerning reports from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Moody's Investors Services, amid lack of triggers, dealers said.

BIPL Securities in a report said the benchmark index was dragged down as Asian Development Bank (ADB) rang alarm bells regarding the debt burden of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) led infrastructure projects on Pakistan’s fragile finances.

“On the other hand, banks continued their negative trend today (Friday) due to Moody’s report that raised concerns that continuation of super tax is negative for the banking sector in terms of their profitability outlook,” the brokerage said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index shed 0.47 percent or 209.73 points to close at 44,536.91 points, while KSE-30 shares index lost 0.61 percent or 133.77 points to end at 21,848.80 points.

Of 365 active scrips, 172 advanced, 171 declined, whereas 22 remained unchanged.

Analysts said bears returned to the apex bourse owing to a lack of near-term triggers and volumes remained confined to 2nd and 3rd tier stocks.

“Emerging macroeconomic headwinds along with heated political space are unnerving the investors, hence they are primarily focusing on protecting their gains of the last two months,” Nauman Khan, head of research at Foundation Securities, said.

The ready market volumes stood at 139.667 million shares as compared with the turnover of 144.231 million shares a day earlier.

Analysts also said the upcoming MSCI review -due on May 14th, 2018- may create near-term excitement, but in a long-run clarity on political and economic front is a must to revive investors’ confidence in Pakistan.

Sector-wise speaking, oil fought well and supported the market as gains recorded in Pakistan State Oil, Pakistan Refinery, and Attock Refinery helped the index recover.

The selloff continued on thin the activity amid post-earnings-season profit-taking in blue-chip scrips across the board.

However, the upbeat data on cement sales for July-April 2018 failed to improve weak sentiments.

Stocks that posted highest gains were Island Textile, up Rs54.56 to close at Rs1145.76/share, and Siemens Pakistan, up Rs52.31 to finish at Rs1098.66/share.

Companies incurring the biggest losses were Unilever Foods, down Rs345.00 to close at Rs8100.00/share, and Colgate Palmolive, down Rs154.00 to Rs2960.00/share.

The Bank of Punjab led the volumes with a turnover of 21.09 million shares, while its scrip gained 28 paisas to close at Rs12.25/share.

It was followed by Shabbir Tiles with a turnover of 10.35 million shares with its scrip gaining 52 paisas to close at Rs21.88/share.

Unity Foods Limited with a turnover of 13.208 million shares was at the lowest rung of the volume ladder, while its scrip lost Rs1.22 to close at Rs30.44/share.