KSE-100 loses 0.16% in range-bound session

Range-bound trading continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday and the KSE-100 Index ended with 0.16% loss due to lack of triggers to give a direction to the market.

Investors chose to remain cautious ahead of forthcoming budget in June and participation remained thin.

KSE-100 falls in range-bound trading session

At close, the KSE-100 Index was down 65.13 points or 0.16% to settle at 40,964.54.

Trading began on a mixed note and the market scaled intra-day high value in initial hours but still it closed first session with a meagre 12-point gain. The second session saw KSE-100 nosedive however, a buying spree towards the end of the session erased most of the losses.

Automobile, chemical, fertiliser, oil and banking sectors closed in the red while cement segment ended the day with a gain.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that PSX opened with a lacklustre session, as investor participation remained low due to the country’s ongoing political turmoil.

“However, as the session began following the break, investor activity rose substantially as the bears dominated the KSE-100 index, losing 245.88 points in the intra-day trading,” it said. “During the final trading hour, however, investors chose to add value to their portfolios by cherry picking stocks.”

Volumes climbed considerably from the previous close due to the end of rollover week. Cement sector remained in the limelight, the report said.

A report from Capital Stake highlighted that the PSX closed flat for fourth consecutive session.

“Indices swung in both directions while volumes surged from previous close,” it said. “Investors adopted a cautious approach owing to the rumours about new taxes in the forthcoming budget.”

On the economic front, foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased $119 million, clocking in at nearly $4.2 billion as of May 19.

The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating Re0.59 or 0.21% in the inter-bank market on Friday to close at 285.15.

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 index in red included technology and communication (74.68 points), oil and gas exploration (56.29 points) and banking (41.72 points).

Volume on the all-share index climbed to 168.5 million from 125.3 million on Thursday, while the value of shares traded rose to Rs6.8 billion from Rs4.1 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 10.3 million shares followed by Maple Leaf Cement with 9.8 million shares and National Bank with 6.7 million shares.

Shares of 329 companies were traded on Friday, of which 120 registered an increase, 179 recorded a fall and 30 remained unchanged.