Stocks end flat as positive triggers remain out of sight

Stocks closed flat after a dull session on Tuesday as investors preferred to stay on sidelines with no positive triggers in sight and corporate earnings’ announcements coming to an end, dealers said.

Analyst Ali Raza at Elixir Securities said equities closed marginally positive in a range-bound and lacklustre trading session with benchmark KSE-100 index falling five points short of reaching the 43,000 points level.

“Market opened on a dreary note and witnessed extremely low turnover particularly in the early hours as most investors refrained from participation due to lack of direction and any positive triggers in sight. Later, institutional activity in select names picked up and helped market pair early losses,” he added.

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) KSE-100 shares index gained 0.2 percent or 83.94 points to close at 42,994.96 points. KSE-30 shares index gained 0.44 percent or 94.37 points to close at 21,586.14 points. As many as 354 scrips were active of which 165 advanced, 164 declined and 25 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 144.88 million shares as compared with the turnover of 167.62 million shares a day earlier.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said stocks showed recovery on institutional speculations in the earnings season ahead of likely pre-poll privatisation of state owned enterprises and EU extension of GSP Plus status of Pakistan.

“Mid-session pressure was witnessed on concerns over political uncertainty and foreign outflows. However, higher global crude prices, upbeat textile exports and robust financial results in cement, banking and oil sectors played a catalytic role in the bullish close,” the analyst added,

DG Khan Cements surged 3.6 percent on confirmation in its quarterly report that the company will book tax credit of entire Rs2.9 billion in the fourth quarter, as its expansion in the south is on track to commence production by June.

Pak Electron, down 2.1 percent witnessed massive exchange of hands near its lower price limit, most in the last seven weeks. On earnings front, Pakistan Petroleum, up 1.2 percent closed in green after announcing earnings and payout that fell slightly below expectations.

Going forward, with result season coming to an end, analysts expect trade to remain range bound in the coming sessions with economic news guiding the market.

Companies with the highest gains included Unilever Foods, up Rs425 to close at Rs8,925/share, and Rafhan Maize, up Rs175 to close at Rs7,100/share.

Companies reflecting most losses included Island Textile, down Rs56 to close at Rs1,072/share and Bhanero Textile, down Rs47.23 to end at Rs897.47/share.

Highest volumes were witnessed in Pak Elektron with a turnover of 14.82 million shares. The scrip shed Rs1.02 to close at Rs48.63/share.

TRG Pakistan was second with a turnover of 9.235 million shares. It shed 40 paisas to close at Rs36.95/share. Agritech Limited was third with a turnover of 8.8 million shares. It gained Rs1.0 to close at Rs7.85/share.

from The News International - Business http://ift.tt/2oAuESU