RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: The Karachi share market Monday closed higher led by select scrips across the board on strong valuations. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 69 points to close at 33,844 points up from 33,775 points last Friday.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib said the week started on a positive note and the trading remained high led by second and third-tier stocks. Post results consolidation in cement, oil and banking stocks invited late session profit-taking. Speculations ahead of SBP policy rate announcement due next month, strong earnings outlook in select auto, fertilizer and cement stocks led the bullish activity on KSE, he added.
Samar Iqbal, Vice President Equity Sales Topline Securities, said the market closed marginally positive with declining volumes as corporate result announcements fell below investors’ expectations. The KSE-100 index gained 0.2 percent with trading value of Rs16 billion compared to Rs 15 billion Friday.
She said investors booked profit in FCCL and PSO after below expectation results as PSO announced March quarter loss while interim dividend of Rs6/share was a surprise.
FCCL earnings also fell below analysts’ estimations and the scrip closed 1.8 percent down. ENGRO remained in the limelight with 8.9 million shares worth Rs.2.75 billion ahead of EFERT secondary offering this week, she added.
During the entire session, the index fluctuated in green zone touching 33,970 points intraday highest level. Volume at the ready counter witnessed a declining trend and overall some 263 million shares were traded Monday compared to 307 million shares in the previous session. Market capitalisation increased by Rs 608 million reaching Rs 7.31 trillion. Trading took place in 367 companies, of which 159 closed in green zone, 191 in the red while share prices of 17 companies remained unchanged.
Among top 10 volume leaders, five companies recorded a positive trend. Fauji CementXD emerged as volume leader with 28 million shares, losing Re 0.61 to close at Rs 33.79. B.O.Punjab stood second, up Re. 0.33 to close at Rs 9.93 on 20 million shares. With 19.6 million shares, KASB Bank ranked third decreasing by Re. 0.08 to Rs 3.37.
Some 17 million shares of D.G.K Cement were traded and the scrip closed at Rs 137.62, gaining Rs 3.23. Pak Elektron moved down by Re. 0.05 to Rs 63.59 on 14 million shares. Ghani Automobile lost Re. 0.33 to Rs 6.80 on 10 million shares. With 9 million shares, K-Electric closed at Rs 7.41, down Re. 0.02. Engro CorpXD increased by Rs 9.64 to Rs 310.99 on 9 million shares. With 7.7 million shares, Dewan Cement inched up by Re 0.11 to close at Rs 6.99 and MapleLeaf Cement closed at Rs 62.93, up Re 0.58 on 6.6 million shares. Indus Motor Co and Murree Brewery were the top gainers with Rs 38.92 and Rs 28.23 to close at Rs 1,138.19 and Rs 930.00, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Pak Tobacco were the top losers with Rs 200.00 and Rs 39.07 to close at Rs 9,200.00 and Rs 742.93, respectively.
Analysts at JS said after the government’s announcement of reducing the PSDP by Rs58bn, the cement sector witnessed pressure as investors chose to book gains. Resultantly, most of the scripts including FCCL (-1.7 percent), PIOC (-1.1 percent), CHCC (-1.0 percent) and KOHC (-0.5 percent) remained in the red. As Arab Light traded above $60/bbl, ATRL (+5 percent), SHEL (+2.6 percent) and NRL (+1.1 percent) rallied, making the oil sector favourable in short term.
