Stocks end flat as political uncertainty continues

Stocks ended flat as political uncertainty continued on Tuesday, though healthy activity in blue-chip shares and slight increase in Pakistan’s MSCI weightage helped investors gain some confidence, dealers said.

Nauman Khan, head of research at Foundation Securities, said the index plunged in the morning, however, towards the later part of the day attractive valuations brought back some buying interest in the market.

“It was a highly volatile trading session, where market initially dropped by 654 points before eventually recovering to close on 39 points negative,” he said.

MSCI raised Pakistan’s weightage a little due to improved market capitalisation, and announced deletion of National Refinery, Pak Elektron, and IGI Holdings from its emerging market small cap index.

The index also listed China, which the brokerages expect could reduce Pakistan’s weightage in the basket in future.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index shed 0.09 percent or 39.33 points to close at 42,459.53 points.

KSE-30 shares index rose 0.19 percent or 39.98 points to close at 20,837.34 points. As many as 351 scrips were active of which 185 advanced and 142 declined, whereas 24 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 181.104 million shares as compared to the turnover of 176.122 million shares in the last session.

Ismail Iqbal Securities in a report said the index was highly volatile with a difference of 760 points between its lowest and highest points. Panic from the other day continued this morning, but the index started recovering after an hour into the trading session as stocks reached attractive levels.

“Passage of the finance bill and updates on interim government set-up may sooth investors’ concerns over the political climate in the coming days,” the report said.

Brisk activity was observed in DG Khan Cement and Maple Leaf Cement, whereas HBL and UBL were seen gaining support at level of Rs170/share, dealers said.

OGDC and Pakistan Oilfields also responded positively after increase in crude oil prices.

Companies with the highest gains included Rafhan Maize, up Rs90.00 to close at Rs8,200.00/share, and Bata Pakistan, up Rs37.15 to close at Rs2,240.00/share.

Companies with the most losses were Nestle Pakistan, down Rs629.90 to close at Rs11,970.10/share and Unilever Foods, down Rs405.00 to close at Rs7,695.00/share.

Highest volumes were witnessed in Fauji Cement with a turnover of 16.856 million shares. The scrip gained 16 paisas to close at Rs25.79/share. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with a turnover of 12.275 million shares. Its scrip gained 37 paisas to close at Rs11.61/share.

Lowest volumes were witnessed in Pakistan Elektron with a turnover of 11.830 million shares. Its scrip lost 57 paisas to close at Rs39.17/share.