Daily Times

Karachi: Pakistan equities closed flat on Wednesday amid a volatile and range-bound trading as the benchmark KSE100 index kept oscillating between green and red during the session. The Index declined 3 points – or 0.01 percent – to close at 49,016 level.

The market failed to carry momentum and struggled for direction early on as lower regional markets and declines in global crude dented sentiments. Industrial sideboards such as Millat Tractors and Pak Electron, and retail favourites like Bank of Punjab, Azgard Nine, and Dost Steels led the day’s gains, while Index names across major sectors traded in a narrow range to finish flat or slightly lower, according to analysts at Elixir Securities.

An above average volume of over 6 million shares was traded in HBL, while KEL and BOP led the volumes with over 79 million shares traded combined. KEL continued to fall on news of average tariff cut by Rs 3.5/unit while stock declined by 5.2%.

Overall, volumes increased by 40.8 percent to 317 million shares, while value rose by 17.8 percent to at Rs13.2 billion/$125 million.

Habib Bank (HBL) notified the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that the bank has entered into an agreement with Diamond Trust Bank Kenya (DTBK) to sell and transfer the business, assets and liabilities of Habib Bank Limited Kenya (HBLK).

In consideration of the transaction, HBL will receive an additional 13 million shares in DTBK, effectively increasing its shareholding from 11.97% to 16.15%. As per the September 2016 financials of HBLK, total equity is around Rs 2.3 billion whereas the deal size amounts to Rs 1.8 billion ($18 million), resulting in a capital loss of Rs0.26/share, according to Topline Securities.

National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC), data shows that the urea sales for Feb17 were down 18% YoY to 257,000 tons which were in line with estimates. Urea inventory levels stood at around 1.1 million tons as per the review. On the contrary, DAP sales increased by 38% to 98,000 tons.

Experts expect that the rangebound market will continue in the short term with the news flow on the domestic political front and any progress on leverage product will keep participants on the lookout.