Stocks flat as late profit-taking weighs

Having kicked off on a high note and making some waves, stocks later on Monday freewheeled down to a muted close as investors booked profits, awaiting triggers, traders said.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Shares Index lost 68.40 points or 0.15 percent to 45,841.25 points, testing a high and a low of 46,139.54 points during the trade. Zafar Moti, a former PSX director, said despite the first day of the week, the market was completely silent.

Investors were expecting a boost betting that Prime Minister in his China visit might be able to secure potential investment in multi-sectoral infrastructure as well as fresh commitment on CPEC but, this sentiment mostly remained elusive, he said.

Moti said the market opened positive but then volumes fell and it eventually closed in the negative zone, adding, the situation was no different from the first day of the last week. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks were weighed down by concerns over dismal trade deficit data and reports of falling cement sales amid cut in development budgets to ensure the $1 billion tranche release under IMF’s (International Monetary Fund) loan programme.

Political noise and likely surge in power tariff, an upshot of surging circular debt pushed the stocks down, Mehanti said. KSE-30 Shares Index also lost 42.63 points or 0.24 percent to close at 17,926.27 points.

Traded shares shrank 42 million to 150.10 million shares from 192.47 million shares, while trading value dropped to Rs6.25 billion from Rs8.89 billion.

Market capital narrowed to Rs7.833 trillion from Rs7.851 trillion. Out of total 362 active shares in the session, 114 made gains, 227 shed value, while 21 ended neutral. Topline Securities in its daily market review said, equities kicked off the week on a positive note but the index remained directionless throughout the day.

Oil and gas exploration and production, fertiliser, power, and banking stocks supported the index with OGDC, PPL, ENGRO, HUBC, and NBP cumulatively adding 94 points, while TRG, LUCK, and PEAL together lost 64 points to profit-taking, the brokerage said in its report.

Sapphire Textile was the best performer of the day as it rose by Rs64.50 to Rs1,109 per share, followed by Premier Suger that jumped Rs37.50 to Rs537.50 per share. Unilever Foods ended up as the top loser, shedding Rs960 to settle down at Rs21,000 per share, while Sanofi-Aventis emerged as the second worst-hit stock by giving up Rs31 to close at Rs850 per share.

JS Research in a post-trade note said the market witnessed a strong start with initial buying seen in oil stocks. “Going forward, a slight correction can be seen and we advise investors to book profits at current levels,” the brokerage advised.

Pak Elektron remained the volume leader with 8.29 million shares that decreased by Rs1.80 to Rs22.26 per share. It was followed by Cnergyico PK with 7.87 million shares that closed lower by 12 paisas to Rs6.12 per share.

Stocks that recorded significant turnover included Hum Network, Oil and Gas Development Company, WorldCall Telecom, Telecard Limited, Unity Foods Ltd, TRG Pakistan Ltd, Bank of Punjab, and Fauji Foods Ltd. Future contracts volume decreased to 49.23 million shares from 59.87 million shares.