Pakistan stocks remain bearish on profit-taking

KARACHI: Pakistan Stocks witnessed profit-taking session on the first day of the week, as investors wait for the MSCI decision, which is scheduled for Tuesday, while the rupee depreciation and supply chain disruption, resulting in cost pressure for the industries, were the prime reasons behind the lacklustre trading activities.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed lower, amid fears on the outcome of the MSCI decision over the Pakistan bourse reclassification this week.

“Foreign outflows, weak rupee, and concerns over [the] widening trade gap to $4.23 billion in August 2021 played a catalytic role in [the] bearish close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares index shed 0.08 per cent, or 38.95 points, to close at 46,918.52 points. The KSE-30 shares index shed 0.02 per cent, or 3.18 points, to close at 18,847.98 points.

As many as 382 scrips were active, of which 164 advanced, 203 declined and 15 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 417.85 million shares, compared with the turnover of 464.97 million shares in the last trading session.

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 Index fluctuated between a low and a high of -69 and +130 points, respectively, throughout the day, eventually closing down 39 points, as pressure took charge.

“Selling pressure was witnessed in the banking and refinery sectors where the United Bank Limited (UBL) went down 1.3 per cent; Habib Bank Limited (HBL) falls 0.7 per cent, Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL) declines 2.3 per cent, Byco went down 2.1 per cent and the National Refinery Limited (NRL) registered a decline of 2.2 per cent, to close in the red zone.”

The cement sector closed negative, despite an increase in dispatches reported for August 2021 where the total cement sales during the month increased 22.77 per cent to 4.336 million tonnes from 3.531 million tonnes in the same month of the last fiscal year.

Going forward, analysts recommend investors to remain cautious and wait for clarity on the MSCI reclassification proposal.

The companies, which reflected the highest gains included Rafhan Maize, up Rs780 to close at Rs11,280/share; and Allawasaya Textile, up Rs70.43 to close at Rs1,009.6/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Gatron Industries, down Rs41.68 to close at Rs516.22/share; and Dynea Pakistan, down Rs18.89 to end at Rs279.86/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in TPL Corporation with a turnover of 59.67 million shares. The scrip gained Rs1.32 to close at Rs24.6/share; followed by Service Fabric (Rights) with a turnover of 35.74 million shares. It shed 66 paisas to close at Rs4.21/share. Telecard Limited remained the third with a turnover of 35.74 million shares. It shed 9 paisas to finish at Rs21.83.

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