close
Thursday March 28, 2024

Stocks inch up in choppy trade

By Our Correspondent
September 14, 2021

Stocks ended flattish on Monday after staying adrift as morning gains led by energy and banks were gone by the afternoon without any apparent rhyme or reason, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Share Index inched 72.17 points or 0.15 percent up to close at 47,270.46 points with the highest and lowest of the day being 47,377.07 points and 47,168.85 points.

Zafar Moti, former director PSX, said the market remained directionless in the day despite of a positive start in the morning. “Stocks opened on a higher note and it seemed there were several orders but selling became the order of the second session. The early buyers did not appear later in the day.”

He said the market had started slowing down after 47,000 points; however, other indicators were positive.

“Dollar-rupee parity was the same. Afghanistan's situation has cooled down. Monetary policy also seems to be the same, while issues related to CPEC were also clarifying,” Moti said.

KSE-30 Shares Index also rose 12.36 points or 0.07 percent to 18,796.97 points against 18,784.61 points.

Traded shares, however, decreased by 32 million shares to 395.83 million. Trading value dropped to Rs16.18 billion. Market capital rose to Rs8.276 trillion. Out of 519 companies active in the session, 209 posted gains, 290 losses, while 20 remained neutral.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Limited said stocks closed higher led by oil and banking scrips on strong valuations.

Surging global crude oil prices, rupee stability, record surge in cement dispatches by 22.7 percent in August 2021 and petroleum products sales, up 22 percent year on year July-August, and upbeat auto sales, jumping a record 81 percent year-on-year in August ensured a positive close, Mehanti said.

Colgate PalmXCXB posted highest gains, by rising Rs106.31 to Rs2,499 per share, followed by Allawasaya Textile, up Rs101.12 to close at Rs1,449.39 per share.

Buxly Paints suffered worst losses by falling Rs36.35 to Rs448.44 per share, followed by Punjab Oil that lost Rs16 to close at Rs210 per share. Haris S Khan, an analyst at Topline Securities, said the stocks witnessed a choppy session.

Expectations of a hike in interest rate in the upcoming monetary policy scheduled for September 20, coupled with likelihood of a higher CPI due to a 13.7 percent week-on-week increase in SPI (Sensitive Price Indicator) inflation kept the market gains in check, he said.

Khan added that the commercial banks saw renewed investor interest amid expectations of a hike in interest rate, after which UBL and HBL added 65.9 points and 48.9 points to the benchmark index respectively.

Moreover, he said, PSO, AGP, and COLG cumulatively added 58 points, while TRG, MEBL, BAHL, and LUCK eroded 113 points.

Byco Petroleum was the volume leader with 44.96 million shares. It gained one paisa to Rs9.79 per share. Service Fab (R) was the second highest traded stock with 42.15 million shares. It rose 52 paisas to Rs3.30 per share.

Stocks that recorded significant turnover included TPL Properties, Telecard Limited, TPL Corp Ltd, WorldCall Telecom, Citi Pharma Ltd, Pak Refinery, TRG Pakistan Ltd, and United BankXD.

Turnover in the futures contracts dropped to 106.75 million shares from 135.52 million in the last session.