Gloom grips stocks as virus panic peaks

Stocks on Monday strayed to a flat finish as institutional profit-taking continued unabated amid virus panic that is peaking with the rising cases as well as casualties that can lead to curbs on economy, dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index lost 0.16 percent or 64.60 points to close at 40,504.75 points, while volumes decreased to 181.446 million shares, as compared with the turnover of 243.084 million in the previous session.

KSE-30 shares index followed suit with a low of 0.12 percent or 19.95 points to end at 17,006.70 points. Muhammad Saeed Khalid, head of research at Shajar Capital said, “The market was sluggish owing to cautiousness arising from uncertainty over Gilgit-Baltistan polls, amid rising LoC (Line of Control) tensions and COVID-19 fatalities”. “We have also noticed negativity in the OMCs sector after OGRA notified to decrease POL prices 1.7 percent for the next fortnight,” Khalid added.

Trading activity was recorded in 366 active scrips, of which 142 moved up, 202 down, and 22 stayed as they were. Salman Ahmad, head of institutional sales at Aba Ali Habib Securities, said, “Equities were dull in range-bound trade despite a number of positive developments like PTI leading the Giglit-Baltistan elections, rising foreign exchange reserves, and increasing crude oil prices”.

However, increasing coronavirus cases and tension with India at borders kept investors at bay, he added. “But largely as the fundamentals are strong the market is expected to bounce back,” Ahmad added. Muzamil Khan at BMA Capital Management Equity Desk said, “The indices are swaying both ways in search of a clear direction before closing, increasing virus cases and possibility of smart lockdown in NCOC meeting dented sentiment“.

“We expect range-bound activity and any dip is an opportunity to accumulate value stocks,” Khan added. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporation, said, “Stocks ended lower in thin trade owing to institutional profit-taking in overbought scrips post earnings season on second COVID wave spooks”.

Rupee stability, upbeat auto sales, LSM growth of 7.7 percent YoY, 20 percent surge in banking deposits in October 2020 invited mid-session support. “Foreign outflows and uncertainty in global equities caused the equities to close bearish,” Mehanti added.

A A Soomro, managing director KASB Securities, said, “Investors could not make up their minds following rising virus cases and no material short-term trigger. Expectations of cement price hike may keep the sector uplifted in short-term”.

Moreover, as the government had banned political gatherings, the noise might decrease after Gilgit-Baltistan elections, Soomro said, adding that record FDI of $317 million in October was a surprisingly positive number. “Expect positivity to tip-toe this week,” he said.

Top gainers were Unilever Foods, up Rs249 to close at Rs12,749/share, and Island Textile, up Rs107.06 to finish at Rs1534.59/share. Wyeth Pakistan Limited, down Rs55.52 to close at Rs1058.77/share, and Pakistan Engineering, losing Rs16.41 to close at Rs203.01/share, were the worst losers.

K-Electric Limited was on the top of the volumes chart with 24,905 million shares. It gained Rs0.18 to end at Rs3.75/share whereas. WorldCall Telecom’s turnover was lowest with 4.894 million traded shares. The scrip lost Rs0.02 to end at Rs1/share.