Losses linger for stocks as caution sets in

Stocks quit more gains on Thursday as political misgivings continued to tweak with the sentiment with caution setting in ahead of rollover week, dealers said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Share Index lost 108.04 points or 0.24 percent to close at 45,574.07 points.

However, turnover increased by 206 million shares to 784.03 million from 578.30 million on Wednesday, while trading value ticked up to Rs20.82 billion against Rs20.79 billion.

Topline Securities in its daily market review said after slight positive opening, the market traded in range as investors were wary of upcoming rollover week.

Banks were the major laggards in today’s trading session where HBL, HMB, MCB and UBL dented the index by 96 points cumulatively further E&P (oil and gas exploration and production)

sector was weighed down by declining international oil, the brokerage said.

KSE-30 Shares Index also gave up 94.02 points or 0.50 percent to close at 18,574.93 points.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd in a note said the market oscillated between +149pts and -163pts.

Energy stocks came under selling pressure on crude oil concerns, and liquidity crunch continued to affect the operational performance of underlying companies, the brokerage said.

It said banking stocks followed suit with negative price performance, while TRG was hit by selling, adding to the pressure on the index.

Byco, which saw significant share transfers in NDMs Wednesday, realised healthy volumes with price uptick in the regular market, topping the volume leaders.

Furthermore, HASCOL realised an upper circuit closing for the second consecutive day, Arif Habib report said.

Market capitalisation remained stable at 7.889 trillion. Out of 389 active names, 218 advanced, 151 declined, while 20 remained unchanged.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed lower with high trades amid slump in global crude oil prices and weak global stocks.

Foreign outflows after MSCI exclusions, uncertainty over SBP policy announcement next week amid higher CPI inflation and rupee instability dragged the index down, Mehanti added.

Wyeth Pak Ltd, which rose by Rs103.53 to end at Rs1,484.02 per share, was the best gainer of the day, trailed by Colgate Palmolive, up Rs89 to close at Rs2,889 per share.

Philip Morris Pakistan, lost Rs37.54 to close at Rs862.46 per share to become the worst loser of the day, followed by AKD Capital that shed Rs33.41 to close at Rs424.58 per share.

“We expect high volatility as the market enters its resistance area between 45,800 and 46,200 points,” said Muhammad Mubbashir at JS Securities.

“Aggressive profit taking can be seen in the market. Therefore, a sell on strength strategy is advised,” he added.

Stocks that recorded notable turnover included Byco Petroleum, WorldCall Telecom, Hascol Petrol, K-Electric Ltd, Pak Int Bulk, Ghani Global Glass, Nimir Resins, TRG Pak Ltd, Pak Refinery, and Hum Network.

Byco Petroleum emerged as the volume leader with 120.14 million shares, gaining 78 paisas to close at Rs10.48 per share. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom, which posted a trade of 77.73 million shares, securing 6 paisas to finish at Rs1.76 per share.

Share turnover in the future contracts rose to 156.81 million shares from 134.73 million traded in the previous session.