Equity market remains range-bound

KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse remained range-bound throughout the day on Tuesday due to concerns over rising inflation numbers and tightening of money supply.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the benchmark KSE-100 Index opened in the positive zone but lackluster activity was witnessed. Volumes remained dry in the main board although hefty volumes were witnessed in the third tier stocks.

Mohammad Waqar Iqbal at JS Global said that the market witnessed range bound activity today where the KSE-100 Index closed at 43,078, up 38 points.

“Going forward, the equity market may remain lackluster due to the budget announcement scheduled on June 10, 2022.

Investors are likely to approach a wait and see strategy as any news on new tax impositions may be negative for the market. We advise to remain at bay till clarity emerges on the same,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.09 per cent, or 38 points, to close at 43,078.14 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 0.43 per cent, or 70.29 points, to close at 16,453.48 points.
As many as 344 scrips were active of which 147 advanced, 173 declined and 24 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 285.34 million shares, compared with the turnover of 187.47 million shares in the last trading session.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed higher led by selected scrips on pre-budget speculations.

“Oil stocks outperformed on surging global crude oil prices. Rupee recovery and reports of the government setting a budget deficit target at 4.8 per cent for fiscal year 2023, played a catalyst role in the positive close,” he added.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Sanofi-Aventis up Rs36.99 to close at Rs836.99/share, Ismail Ind up Rs35.04 to close at Rs508.85/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Rafhan Maize down Rs100 to close at Rs9,700/share, and Mehmood Tex down Rs65.62 to close at Rs809.38/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Silk Bank Ltd with a turnover of 71.62 million shares. The scrip gained 22 paisas to close at Rs1.50/share, followed by Pak Int Bulk with a turnover of 35.61 million shares. It gained 43 paisas to close at Rs6.58/share.

Pak Refinery remained the third with a turnover of 21.11 million shares. It gained 17 paisas to finish at Rs17.99/share.