Stocks inch up in range-bound session

Stocks on Monday managed to inch up in a range-bound session although below-the-expectation corporate earnings dampened sentiments of investors who mainly booked profits in cement, oil and banking sectors, dealers said.
Analyst Samar Iqbal at Topline Securities said the market closed marginally positive with tapering volumes as corporate results failed to meet the investors’ expectations. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share Index rose 69.18 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 33,844.30 points. KSE-30 shares index also edged up 62.12 points, or 0.29 percent, to end at 21,768.03 points.
As many as 367 scrips were active; of which 159 advanced, 191 declined and 17 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 263.461 million shares as compared to 307.449 million shares in the last trading session.
Elixir Securities foresee volatile trading going forward with activities ahead of a long weekend. There will be a vacation on the coming Friday on account of Labour Day. The brokerage house is expecting the low inflation reading that bodes well for some shares. Moreover, hopes of further monetary easing as hinted by the Finance Minster in the recent policy statement by the central bank will likely to make the benchmark test the 34,500 level in days ahead, it forecast.
Analyst Ahmed Saeed at JS Global Capital said bulls dominated the session. However after initial gains of 196 points, the market closed only 69 points up, he added.Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Commodities said second- and third-tier stocks exerted a pull on buyers.
“Post results consolidation stirred late session profit taking in cement, oil and banking stocks,” he said. Engro Corporation remained in the limelight with 8.9 million shares worth Rs2.75 billion traded ahead of EFERT’s secondary offering this week.
The government’s plan to cut development spending by Rs58 billion stoked selling pressure on cement sector. Resultantly, most of the sector’s shares fell: Fauji Cement (-1.7 percent), Pioneer Cement (-1.1 percent), Cherat Cement (-1.0 percent) and Kohat Cement (-0.5 percent).
Pakistan State Oil posted loss for the March quarter and its interim dividend of Rs6/share was a surprise.
As Arabian Light crude trades above $60/barrel, Attock Refinery Limited rose 5.0 percent, Shell Pakistan 2.6 percent and National Refinery Limited 1.1 percent.
Highest volumes were witnessed in Fauji Cement with a turnover of 27.944 million shares. The scrip shed 61 paisas to close at Rs33.79/share. The scrip was followed by Bank of Punjab with a turnover of 20.301 million shares. It inched up 33 paisas to end at Rs9.93/share. KASB Bank was the third with a turnover of 19.671 million shares. It lost eight paisas to finish at Rs3.37/share.