Daily Times

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)witnessed a choppy session on the first day of the week as KSe-100 succumbed to correction and lost 2014.32 points to close at 45,726.68 index level.

Theindex continued to hover below 46,000 level to which investors continue to book intra-day profit primarily in exploration & production, fertilizer, oil & gas marketing, cement and banking sectors, since market was presumed over-bought. Senior vice president, BMA capital management,Irfan Saeed said, the index reclined on Monday, owing to over-due correction which may stretch to couple of next sessions, with immediate support levels at 45,500-45,400 index level, since any market correction at this index level should be considered a healthy sign. Peddling optimism, Mr Saeed said, any dip should be construed as a buying opportunity at the market, ahead of financial results season, as major blue chip stocks stands the potential to dole out healthy profits.

While not making a major impact, investors did showed short-lived resilience to series of positive economic indicators. Latest economic data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)showed a 9.59% MoM improvement in exports from Pakistan for the month of December 2020. While, Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the previous week ended on January 14, for the combined consumption group, witnessed a decrease of 0.22 per cent as compared to the previous week.

However, drop in global oil price weighed down market sentiments, as on Monday U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark crude oil futures finished fractionally lower as a stronger U.S. Dollar weighed on foreign demand for the dollar-denominated asset. Weak US economic data also raised concerns about domestic demand.Meanwhile, U.S. Drillers continued to add rigs to take advantage of higher prices and OPEC+’s willingness to give up market share. Coronavirus lockdowns in China and U.S. stimulus concerns also pressured prices.

During the session, the benchmark KSE-100 Indexremained range-bound, and registered its intraday high at 46,074.56 level after it gained 143.56 points and low at 45,714.17 level after losing 216.83 points.

The volume at Kse-100 reduced from 221.93 million shares recorded in the previous session, to 285.14 million shares, however, the all-share volumeslightly risedfrom 531.06 million shares in the previous session to 543.65 million shares. The volume chart was led by TRG Pakistan Limited, Fauji Foods Limited and K-Electric Limited. The scrip exchanged 47.59 million, 44.62 million and 33.01 million shares, respectively.

According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited foreign investors’ were net buyers of worth $4.73 million worth ofshares. Among local investors the selling chart was led by Brokers and Mutual Funds, which off-loaded $6.58 million and $3.4 million of equities. However, Individuals mopped up $7.52 million worth of equities.

Sectors that weighed down the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 115 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 34 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 32 points, Cement with 30 points and Food & Personal Care Products with 15 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Pakistan Petroleum Limited which stripped the index of 42 points followed by Oil &Gas Development Company Limited with 40 points, Hub Power Company Limited with 34 points, Pakistan Oilfields Limited with 28 points and Lucky Cement Limited with 22 points.

However, Sector’s that continued to weigh upthe index,were Technology & Communication with 60 points, Commercial Banks with 22 points, Miscellaneous with 12 points, Vanaspati& Allied Industries with 7 points and Close – End Mutual Fund with 3 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan Limited which contributed 74 points followed by United Bank Limited with 28 points, Faysal Bank Limited with 13 points, Shifa International Hospitals Limitedwith 12 points and Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited with 10 points.