PSX flat ahead of monetary policy huddle

Stocks were muted on Tuesday amid shifting risk appetite as noncommittal investors booked profits ahead of the central bank’s monetary policy meeting later in the evening, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Share Index closed just 14.31 points or 0.03 percent higher at 47,686.99, touching a day high of 47,910.12 points and 47,631.56 points.

Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said, stocks showed recovery amid thin trade on speculations ahead of SBP policy announcement today.

Mid-session pressure seen owing to falling Asian equities and concerns over reports of Rs473 billion GIDC (gas infrastructure development cess) recoverable from industrials.

Reports of PSDP utilisation of Rs551.4 billion, surge in consumer loans to Rs708 billion in June 2021, and rupee recovery on export earnings kept the stocks in the green, Mehanti said.

KSE-30 Shares Index also moved 22.74 points or 0.12 percent up to end at 19,129.61 points.

Haris S Khan, an analyst at Topline Securities, said the index printed an intra-day high of 47,910 (up 0.50 percent) in the session but witnessed profit-taking to eventually close the day on a flattish note settling.

“Concerns regarding rising Covid cases and implementation of lockdowns kept the market gains in check,” Khan said.

Furthermore, he added that investors’ focus was on the upcoming monetary policy, which was announced after the closure of the market. The monetary policy was maintained at seven percent, said Khan.

Traded shares, however, decreased 18 million shares to 432.62 million against 450.24 million shares, while trading value rose to Rs13.87 billion against Rs13.55 billion. Market capital decreased to Rs8.335 trillion from Rs8.347 trillion.

The highest increase was recorded in shares of Sapphire Textile, which gained Rs67.50 to close at Rs967.50 per share, followed by Saphire Fiber, up Rs60 to Rs860 per share.

Colgate Palmolive, down Rs83.46 to end at Rs2,694 per share suffered most losses in the day, followed by AKD Hospitality that dropped Rs30 to finish Rs415 per share.

The textile sector came under the limelight owing to rupee devaluation with GATM, KTML, and NML cumulatively adding 37 points to the benchmark index.

Moreover, fertiliser sector also saw renewed investor interest after channel checks suggested that urea manufacturers have increased prices for urea bags by Rs50/bag. On the back of this development, FFC and EFERT closed up 1.39 percent and 0.47 percent respectively.

Significant turnover was recorded in WorldCall Telecom, Byco Petroleum, KASB Mod, TPL Corp Ltd, Al-Shaheer Corp, Gul Ahmed, K-Electric Ltd, Telecard Limited, TPL Properties, and Citi Pharma Ltd.

WorldCall Telecom was the highest traded stock with 36.63 million shares. The telecom lost 10 paisas to settle at Rs3.74 per share. It was followed by Byco Petroleum that posted a trade of 34.55 million shares, losing 21 paisas to end at Rs10.06 per share.

On the results front, PAKT announced (EPS) earnings per share of Rs37 for 1H2021, up 24 percent year on year, accompanied by a cash dividend of Rs26/share. CEPB also announced an FY21 EPS of Rs16.78, up 94 percent year-on-year, along with a cash dividend of Rs1.50/share.

Turnover in the future contracts decreased to 282.26 million shares from 314.61 million traded in the previous session.