Stocks weaken as economic worries weigh

Stocks weakened on Tuesday on economic worries, while a notice for collection of capital gains tax (CGT) for 11MFY21 period also dampened the sentiment, dealers said.

The benchmark KSE-100 Share Index shed 82.96 points or 0.17 percent to close at 47,346.16 points, while it hit a day high of 47,662.68 points and a low of 47,244.93 points.

Ahsan Mehanti, senior analyst at Arif Habib Corp said pressure remained at PSX amid economic uncertainty amid surging trade deficit and government debt.

Political noise, regional security uncertainty and rupee instability kept the stocks in a subdued mode, Mehanti added.

Tracking the benchmark, KSE-30 Shares Index edged down by 12.05 points or 0.06 percent to end at 19,004.84.

Total traded turnover swelled 47 million shares to 541.30 million against 494.53 million shares on Monday.

Trading value increased to Rs17.61 billion against Rs15.36 billion. Market capital narrowed to 8.294 trillion from 8.316 trillion. Of 413 active shares 125 gained, 271 lost, while 17 ended unchanged.

Haris S Khan, analyst at Topline Securities said, the market witnessed another lackluster session.

“We believe the selling is attributable to the announcement of collection of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) for the period 11MFY21, which resulted in liquidity selling by market participants.”

Khan said higher international oil prices weighed on inflation expectations, while uncertainty over Pakistan-US relations kept investors on the sidelines.

The cement sector caught investors’ attention after south-based players increased the prices by Rs25 per bag, while northern players were expected to follow suit. The sector on a whole saw a total turnover of 23.93 million shares and closed 0.31 percent higher.

HUBC, TRG, NRL, UNITY, and SNGP were the major damage-makers by cumulatively bringing the benchmark index down by around 128 points.

Highest increase was recorded in shares of Pak Tobacco, which rose Rs39.99 to Rs1,419.99 per share, followed by Exide (Pak) that increased Rs38.76 to Rs555.57 per share.

Major decline was noted in shares of Rafhan Maize, which fell Rs600 to Rs9,650 per share, followed by Wyeth Pak Ltd, down Rs138.42 to Rs1,935.25 per share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd in a report said market traded range bound on Tuesday, oscillating between -187 points and +236 points, closing the session with -83 points.

The index went up earlier in the session in across the board buying; however, selling pressure took over later on, driving stock prices down, particularly in power, technology, steel and refinery sectors, it said.

Banking sector remained muted with limited uptick in HBL, whereas oil and gas exploration and production sector saw continued selling pressure in OGDC and PPL that ended lower than Monday’s closing prices.

Hascol Petrol remained the volume leader with 49.86 million shares, strengthening 79 paisas to Rs8.07 per share. It was trailed by WorldCall Telecom with 48.86 million shares, down 10 paisas to Rs3.86 per share.

Turnover in the future contracts increased to 93.43 million shares from 62.47 million shares traded in the previous session.