Pakistan equity market remains range-bound over rise in Covid cases

KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks witnessed a range-bound trading on Friday, as investors remained concerned over the rising Covid-19 cases and decline in the rupee value against the dollar, dealers said.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market traded in a narrow range. “Further slippage of [the] rupee in [the] interbank market prompted investors to adopt cautious approach towards cement, steel, fertiliser and refinery stocks, which have exposure to declining rupee parity on the cost of production.”

Meanwhile, the positive impact of weakening currency had a positive bearing on technology, textiles and E&P sectors, which fared well.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 0.17 per cent, or 80.19 points, to close at 47,793.07 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.17 per cent, or 31.94 points, to close at 19,161.24 points.

As many as 417 scrips were active, of which 160 advanced, 237 declined and 20 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 314.16 million shares, compared with the turnover of 320.97 million shares in the last trading session.

Muhammad Mubashir at JS Global Capital said that the market touched a high of 47,946 points in the initial hours but soon came under pressure, as investors chose to book profits over the rising Coronavirus cases.

“On [the] economic front, [the] current account posted a deficit of $1.85 billion during FY21, while [the] textile exports saw a 22.9 per cent growth during the year. Moreover, the United States has appreciated Pakistan’s efforts on the FATF [Financial Action Task Force] front.”

Going forward, analysts expect the range-bound activity to continue in the coming sessions due to the rollover week and recommend investors to avail any downside as an opportunity to buy in the cement and textile sectors.

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Nestle Pakistan, up Rs70 to close at Rs5,960/share; and Colgate Palmolive, up Rs47.53 to close at Rs2,6987/share.

The companies, which reflected the most losses included Thal Industries Corp, down Rs21.51 to close at Rs279.49/share; and KSB Pumps, down Rs19.4 to end at Rs274.93/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Byco Petroleum with a turnover of 34.05 million shares. The scrip gained 32 paisas to close at Rs10.45/share; followed by Dandot (Rights) with the turnover of 23.9 million shares. It shed 28 paisas to close at 45 paisas/share. Pace Pakistan was the third with a turnover of 22.59 million shares. It gained 37 paisas to finish at Rs8.14.