Stock market trades in narrow range

Stock market trades in narrow range

KARACHI: The stock market gained 16 points on Monday while trading in narrow range.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 33,284 points as against 33,268 points showing an increase of 16 points.

Market traded in a narrow range between +48 points and -142 points, closing the session +16 points. Banking sector traded in the negative zone, and similar activity was observed in Cement and E&P.

All eyes are set on MSCI rebalancing and Monetary Policy rate cut, of which MSCI is scheduled to announce decision on May 12, whereas SBP is also expected to take the decision on Policy rate during the ongoing week. Side board scrips came in the limelight today and contributed to the volumes, including WTL, HUMNL, UNITY and TRG.

Pharma stocks, FEROZ and SEARL also reacted to possible non-exclusive engagement with Gilead for manufacturing Coronavirus drug Remdesivir and performed well on the bourse.

Technology stocks contributed 94.2 million shares to the index, followed by O&GMCs (16.5 million) and Vanaspati (15.1 million). Among scrips, WTL topped with 62.4 million shares, followed by TRG (15.8 million) and UNITY (15.1 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Pharma (+23 points), Technology (+12 points), Insurance (+8 points), Power (-10 points) and E&P (-10 points).

Volumes increased from 88 million shares to 198.2 million shares (+125 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 15 percent to reach US$ 27.4 million as against US$ 23.9 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, TRG, UNITY, HASCOL and HUMNL, which formed 56 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include SEARL (+12 points), SNGP (+10 points), TRG (+7 points), AICL (+6 points) and GLAXO (+6 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-12 points), PPL (-7 points), HBL (-4 points), PSO (-4 points), and OGDC (-4 points).