Stocks remain volatile over weak macroeconomic indicators

KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse observed a range bound and a volatile session on Tuesday over the uncertainty regarding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme which kept the investors under pressure.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said that the persistent hike in the secondary market yield and rupee depreciation indicate a hike in the policy rate in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee meeting on May 23, 2022.

“Moreover, the fiscal and external account pressures are at boiling point with subsidies by the government through a relief package coupled with depleting foreign exchange reserves,” he added.

“Going forward, we expect the market to remain under pressure. Hence, we recommend our investors adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the upcoming sessions,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.26 per cent, or 111.22 points, to close at 43,504.36 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 0.08 per cent, or 12.52 points, to close at 16,513.96 points.

As many as 337 scrips were active of which 151 advanced, 163 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 233.85 million shares, compared with the turnover of 305.2 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed a range bound session today, where the PSX opened on the positive note but remained volatile due to continued depreciation of rupee against the dollar as political and economic uncertainty kept the investors at bay.

“The market remained lackluster throughout the day. The main board continued to remain dry whereas hefty volumes were observed in 3rd tier stocks,” he added.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Colgate Palm up Rs146.86 to close at Rs2,197.86/share, and Nestle Pakistan up Rs93.76 to close at Rs5,800.01/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Unilever Foods(XD) down Rs213 to close at Rs25,000/share, and Bata (Pak) down Rs159.92 to close at Rs2,080/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in Cnergyico PK with a turnover of 19.02 million shares. The scrip gained 13 paisas to close at Rs5.69/share, followed by Pak Refinery with a turnover of 13.86 million shares. It gained 1 paisa to close at Rs15.01/share. Pak Int Bulk remained the third with a turnover of 13.19 million shares. It gained 12 paisas to finish at Rs6.15/share.