Stocks end flat as investors hit pause, watch bond yields

KARACHI: The capital market on Thursday remained range-bound due to lack of positive triggers, with investors mainly focusing on tier-3 stocks in technology and investment banking sectors, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)’s benchmark KSE-100 index gained 91.93 points or 0.21 percent to settle at 44,266.90 points compared to 44,174.97 points in the previous session.

Arif Habib Limited in its post-market note said that the market continued to remain range-bound, following the previous day’s trend due to the ambiguity over the mini-budget.

Market opened in the green zone as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised Rs158 billion through Pakistan Investment Bonds; hefty participation indicating yields to stay at the same level in the near-future.

The traded volume posted increase by surging to 240 million shares, compared to 151 million shares in the previous session. The trading value in the market moved up to Rs8.020 billion against Rs6.571 billion, whereas market capitalisation inched up to Rs7.58 trillion compared to Rs.7.57 trillion in the last session.

Of the total 357 traded scrips, 199 moved up in value, 135 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

Lack of any key positive triggers kept the market range-bound. The main board volumes remained dull, whereas activity continued to move side-ways with hefty volumes in tier-3 stocks.

Equities around the world showed mixed trend.

“Stocks closed higher led by selected scrips across the board as investors weigh $1.5 billion Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan approval for energy sector reforms, surge in global crude oil prices and foreign direct investment (FDI) surge by 12 percent YoY in July-November of the current fiscal,” Ahsan Mehanti, analyst at Arif Habib Corp said in his post-trading note.

He also believed that large scale manufacturing growth of 3.56 percent YoY for first five months of the current fiscal and surge in private business by 3 percent in November 2021 played a catalytic role in the bullish close.

Topline Securities in its note also said that range-bound activity was witnessed in the equities market, where the market opened in the green zone due to positive news flow with regard to Pakistan-US relations.

Washington has praised Pakistan’s efforts to conduct the OIC summit on Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis.

It also pointed out that the latest PIB auction where yields on different tenures remained mostly flat amidst heavy participation also assisted the market to consolidate at the current levels. Other positive news for the market was that the textile units that run only on gas would get the supply restored.

Sectors that contributed the most to the index today included technology and communication (69.2 points), investment banking (12.3 points), cement (11.6 points), vanaspati and allied industries (6.5 points), and power generation and distribution (4.91 points).

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include Hum Network, TRG Pakistan, Unity Foods, Summit Bank, and Worldcall Telecom.

Top decliners during the trading session included Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan, Murree Brewery, Systems Limited, Pak Suzuki Motor Company, and Atlas Honda.