Pakistan stocks remain bearish on selling pressure

KARACHI: The Pakistan equity market witnessed selling pressure on account of weak sentiments, amid volatility in the rupee/dollar parity, dealers said.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed lower on investors’ concerns over foreign outflows, amid MSCI downgrade and slump in the rupee value.

“[The] surging circular debt, likely raise in local POL prices impacting corporate earnings, and uncertainty over [the] rupee stability played a catalytic role in the bearish close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 0.37 per cent, or 174.62 points, to close at 46,716.72 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.23 per cent, or 43.13 points, to close at 18,559.73 points.

As many as 518 scrips were active, of which 161 advanced, 329 declined and 28 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 332.78 million shares, compared with the turnover of 479.79 million shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market continued the downtrend; following the slippage in the rupee/dollar parity that deteriorated further to touch 169.70 in the interbank and crossed 170 in the open market.

“Unabated foreign selling coincided with [the] local mutual funds disposing positions on the pretext of redemptions. Cement, E&P, refinery and OMC sectors bore the brunt of persistent selling. Limited buying interest was observed in technology stocks, which came down in the past couple of sessions.”

An analyst at Pearl Securities said the market participants kept focused on the changing economic environment, upcoming monetary policy stance and the global commodity prices, which were the prime reasons behind the market performance.

“Moreover, [the] Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) worked [out] a massive increase in POL products, which, if approved, [would] create further inflationary pressure.”

“Going forward, we expect the market to move both ways; therefore, we suggest our investors to book profits at higher levels in the ongoing week.”

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Allawasaya Textile, up Rs116.84 to close at Rs1,674.93/share; and Wyeth Pakistan, up Rs28 to close at Rs1,678/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Nestle Pakistan, down Rs54.51 to close at Rs6,100.5/share; and Bhanero Textile, down Rs80 to close at Rs1,020/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in TPL Corp with a turnover of 29.62 million shares. The scrip gained Rs1.68 to close at Rs24.67/share; followed by Telecard Limited with a turnover of 28.25 million shares. It shed Rs1.19 to close at Rs23.17/share. Byco Petroleum remained the third with a turnover of 23.28 million shares. It shed 11 paisas to finish at Rs8.97.