Stocks remain range-bound over political turmoil

KARACHI: The Pakistan stock market opened in the negative zone on Wednesday due to the prevailing political noise, where the KSE-100 Index remained range-bound throughout the session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed a range bound session today as the investors remained on the sidelines waiting for clarity on the political front.

“However, during the last trading hour value buying was observed in the cement sector which helped the Index to close in the green zone. The volumes remained dry in the main board although hefty volumes were witnessed in the 3rd tier stocks,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index gained 0.37 per cent, or 155.89 points, to close at 42,351.15 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 0.48 per cent, or 76.40 points, to close at 16,003.41 points.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said that the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended the month of August by gaining 2,201 points to close at 42,351 level, registering a return of 6 per cent on a monthly basis.

“The floods have racked havoc nationwide with a negative impact on the economy. Therefore, going forward, we expect the market to take direction backed by the updates of the flood situation and political inflows.

Hence, we recommend our investors adopt the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the upcoming days,” he added.

As many as 339 scrips were active of which 173 advanced, 143 declined and 23 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 181.26 million shares, compared with the turnover of 237.67 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Bhanero Textile up Rs95.62 to close at Rs1,370.62/share, and Sapphire Textile up Rs73.16 to close at Rs1,159.99/share.

The companies which reflected the most losses included Pak Services down Rs79.33 to close at Rs1,020.67/share, and Philip Morris Pakistan down Rs41.99 to close at Rs518/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in K-Electric with a turnover of 15.13 million shares. The scrip shed 8 paisas to close at Rs3.26/share, followed by Unity Foods with a turnover of 10.97 million shares. It gained 66 paisas to close at Rs23.65/share. Engro Polymer (XD) remained the third with a turnover of 10.26 million shares. It gained Rs3.85 to finish at Rs62.27/share.

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