KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed Monday little changed in volatile trading and after wiping all intra-day gains on profit-taking. KSE-100 index observed a lackluster session for the day, making an intraday high of +337 and intraday low of -122 points, ending nearly at previous day’s close at 42,744 points level, down 6 points. Market opened higher with fertilizers leading surge as investors tracked global urea prices that posted biggest weekly gain in almost four years; Fauji Fertilisers (FFC) (gaining 5 percent) being the biggest beneficiary, as it has unused exports qouta compared to Engro Fertilisers (EFERT) (gaining 3.9 percent), contributed most to gains and churned highest volumes since the day of Pakistan’s entry in MSCI EM Index. Wider market built on fertilisers’ lead with notable index names trading in green and pushing KSE100 Index to test 43000 points level resistance. Market then witnessed profit-taking which completely wiped all morning gains with National Bank (NBP) losing 5 percent hitting lower price limit and denting benchmark Index the most after Supreme Court dismissed bank’s appeal against Lahore High Court’s decision in Pension Liability case. Elixir Securities’ analyst sees consolidation and range-bound trading in near-term with domestic political noise and ongoing holy month of Muharram keeping most investors on the sidelines; KSE100 index to hover in a range of 500 points with support and resistance defined around 43,000 and 42,000 levels respectively. Market volumes also remained low as total volume for the All-Share index touched 126 million shares, 4.4 percent down from the last trading day. Aisha Steel Mills Limited (ASL) gaining 0.63 percent remained volume leader with 7.8 million shares traded. Nishat Mills Limited (NML) losing 0.99 percent from the textile sector announced its FY 17 result, where the company posted consolidated EPS of Rs17.55 and also announced final cash dividend of Rs5/share. ASL from the steel sector also announced its FY17 result where the company posted an EPS of Rs 1.31. “We expect volatility to continue unless any clarity emerges over the ongoing political scenario. We recommend investors to remain cautious and to sell on strength,” said JS Research’s analyst Maaz Mulla. Published in Daily Times, September 26th 2017.