Daily Times

Investors interest continue to dwindle at Pakistan Stock exchange benchmark Kse-100 index as market struggles to look for a direction. On Wednesday, kse -100 attempted to mark some early gains, however failing to sustain the momentum, the index lost the ground to profit taking. The kse-100 index clocked at 40,154.01 after falling flat by the closing end of the session.

The benchmark index witnessed an early rally pushed by exploration & production sector, but cement and banking stocks dragged down the index amid selling pressure. However, the index heavy weight Fertilizer Sector continues to take losses post Supreme Court (SC) verdict which dismissed all petitions against the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) levy and ruled in favour of the federal government which would collect Rs420 billion from different companies. But sectors major stock ENGRO’s financial results (with a dividend of Rs8 per share) helped the sector stage some recovery.

During the trading session, the investment chart witnessed a mixed trend with buying table being led by Institutions with $3.3 million worth of equities followed by foreign investors with $2.4 million worth of equities. Meanwhile, the sell table was led by companies with $1.8 million worth of equities, followed by Individuals with $1.5 million worth of equities.

The benchmark KSE-100 remained range bound through most of the session, marking its intraday high at at 40,424.92 after gaining 240.91 points during the early trading hours and intraday low at 40,065.51. The index recorded a volume of 248.94 million shares, down from 295 million shares in the previous session, while the overall market volumes also clocked at 427 million shares.

The volume chart was led by Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Ltd, followed by TRG Pakistan Ltd and Power Cement Ltd Right Shares. The scrips exchanged 26.24 million, 22.66 million and 20.21 million shares, respectively.

Sectors which weighed down the index included Cement with 23 points, Technology & Communication with 22 points, Automobile Assembler with 20 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 19 points and Commercial Banks with 19 points. Among the scrips, most points taken off the index was by TRG Pakistan Limited which stripped the index of 22 points followed by Hub Power Company Limited with 20 points, Indus Motors with 9 points, DG Khan Cement with 9 points and Shifa international Hospitals Limited with 8 points.

Sectors which resisted the pressure and lifted the index included Fertilizer with 60 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 38 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 10 points, Tobacco with 4 points and Insurance with 4 points. Among the scrips, most points added to the index was by ENGRO which contributed 38 points followed by Pakistan oilfields Limited with 17 points, Engro Fertilizers Limited with 14 points, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited with 9 points and Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 9 points.

Global markets: Global stocks were mixed on Wednesday amid escalating Sino-U.S tensions as Investors closely the followed the developments in the U.S.-China technology war. Moreover, investors also closely followed an upsurge in Covid-19 cases denting market sentiments.

In Asia, most of the stocks traded mixed with Chinese stocks leading the losses, as benchmark index Shanghai composite fell 1.24% to around 3,408.13. While, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also dipped 0.74% to close at 25,178.91. However, South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.52% to close at 2,360.54, while Japan’s ikkei 225 advanced 0.26% to end its trading day at 23,110.61. Sentiments took a dip in Japan after country’s exports in July declined 19.2% as compared with a year ago, according to provisional trade statistics from the country’s Ministry of Finance released Wednesday.