Stock market makes nominal gain amid selling pressure

Stock market makes nominal gain amid selling pressure

KARACHI: The stock market ended flat on Thursday after witnessed high band trading during the day.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 35,974 points as against 35,959 points showing an increase of 15 points.

Market carried with the momentum showed yesterday and opened on a positive note today with +259 points and 3M shares traded on the opening bell.

During the session, the index went up by 577 points however, selling pressure brought the market down to -304 points at a point in time again.

The main cause of concern was again Market Support Fund, where rumours kept circulating that it has not yet been approved, despite clarity given by SECP Chairman and Advisor to Finance Ministry.

By the end of session, ECC’s approval of EMOF and SEF (Enterprise Funds) brought some confidence back to the investors, however, market did not recover the eroded points.

Banking sector led the volumes table with 40M shares, followed by Cement sector (38M). BOP contributed more than half the traded volumes in Banking Sector, whereas MLCF led the Cement Sector with 14M shares.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+69 points), O&GMCs (+59 points), Autos (+19 points), Fertilizer (-68 points), Power (-38 points), Textile (-27 points), Cement (-23 points).

Volumes increased from 182.5mn shares to 199.1mn shares (+9 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 17 percent to reach US$ 59.7mn as against US$ 51.1mn.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include BOP, MLCF, UNITY, KEL and SNGP, which formed 38 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include BAHL (+31 points), PSO (+23 points), UBL (+22 points), SNGP (+20 points) and NESTLE (+14 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include FFC (-35 points), HUBC (-32 points), ENGRO (-26 points), NML (-19 points) and OGDC (-15 points).