Daily Times

Pakistan equities closed Tuesday bearish with benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 498 points, closing at 36,404 levels, down 1.3 percent.

The local bourse witnessed a dull trading session making a low of -766 points.

An equity analyst at IIS Securities said KSE-100 index remained under pressure throughout the session Tuesday due to uncertainty over the International Monetary Fund (IMF program. Fertilizers, commercial banks, cements, OMCs and E&Ps remained major contributors to the index’s loss.

The equity market came under pressure on the continuous selling by the local institutions. Ghani (-5%), Ghandara Nissan (GHNL) (-5%) & Honda Atlas Cars (HCAR) (-5%) closed at their respective lower circuits in the auto sector.

Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) (-4.8%) announced its first quarter 2019 results with LPS of Rs11.92 against EPS of Rs10.99 during first quarter 2018 with no cash payout.

Lucky Cement (-2.2%), DG Khan Cement (-2.8%) and Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL) (-3.2%) were the major laggards from the cement sector. Engro (-1.2%) and DAWH (-3.8%), in the Fertilizer sector, were the major laggards that took 53 points away from the index.

Mixed sentiments were seen in the Financials where Habib Bank Limited (HBL) (-1.7%) closed in the red whereas MCB Bank (+0.3%) and United Bank Limited (UBL) (+0.2%) closed positive. HBL (-1.7%), PPL (-1.0%), NBP (3.1%), LUCK (-2.2%), FFC (-0.5%), HUBC (-1.0%) and OGDC (-1.1%) were among the top scrip to cumulatively contributed -136 points to the negative closing.

Traded value during today’s trading session stood at $35 million, up 13 percent and volume stood at 120 million shares, down 5 percent. Major contribution to total market volume came from LOTCHEM (+0.5%), KEL (-2.5%), SNGP (-4.7%) and BOP (-3.6%).

Danish Ladhani, an equity analyst, expects the local bourse to remain choppy and volatile ahead. We recommend investors to stay cautious in the short run ahead of the IMF meeting.