RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Sentiments at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Tuesday remained negative due to selling pressure and pre-budget uncertainty.

BRIndex100 declined by 10.76 points or 0.11 percent to close at 5,062.49 points down from 5,073.25 points Monday. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 5,088.16 and intraday low of 5,054.28. Volume stood at 184.823 million shares. Lotte Chemical was the most traded company in BRIndex100 with a volume of 18.023 million shares.

BRIndex30 opened at 25,978.57 points. It touched intraday high of 26,046.73 points and intraday low of 25,849.81 points, closing at 25,950.64 points which was -27.93 points or -0.11 percent lower than previous close. Volumes at BRIndex30 stood at 106.827 million.

The benchmark KSE-100 lost 104 points to close 46,476.73 points compared to 46,580 points. Trading volume stood at 219.832 million shares, up 8 percent. Market capitalization decreased by Rs 83 billion to Rs 9,499 trillion.

Analysts at Topline said that investors in Pakistan equities remained on the sidelines as formal implication of a major development (tax reforms package) is pending Parliament’s consent. However, trade activity in small cap stocks remained investors’ top pick, where LOTCHEM and EPCL cumulatively generated volume of 34 million shares as market talks about possible withdrawal/removal of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) on fuel and power expense as LOTCHEM and EPCL both will be beneficiaries (both companies are provisioning GIDC amount) along with fertilizer manufactures (FFC and FFBL mainly).

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp commenting on the market said that stocks closed bearish amid investor concerns for dismal data on $27.3 billion trade deficit for Jul-Mar of FY18 and pre budget uncertainty.

Recovery in global equities and crude oil prices invited mid-session support in cement, auto and oil scrips. Reports on falling banking spreads, dismal economic data on external financing and concerns for surging current account deficit played a catalytic role in bearish close, he added. Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 18.023 million shares. It gained Re 0.22 to close at Rs 11.13 followed by Engro Polymer that further increased by Re. 0.22 to Rs 38.90 with 15.488 million shares. TRG Pak was the third highest trading share with 9.4 million shares. It closed at Rs 36.84, down Re 0.13.

Nestle Pakistan and Exide were the top gainers with Rs 121.00 and Rs 20.67 to close at Rs 12,980.00 and Rs 434.18, respectively. Colgate Palmolive and Pak Tobacco were the top losers with Rs 153.99 and Rs 25.00 to Rs 2,946.01 and Rs 1,900.00, respectively.

Analysts at JS said Pakistan equities closed down negative with benchmark KSE-100 Index settling at 46,477 levels. The market kicked off on a positive note making an intraday high of +99pts but remained sideways making an intraday low of -173pts.

BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 9,438.39 with a net negative change of -77.11 points or a percentage change of -0.81 and a total turnover of 6,960,300. BR Cement Index closed at 6,391.55 with a net negative change of -14.6 points or a percentage change of -0.23 and a total turnover of 16,539,950.

BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 5,559.67 with a net positive change of 23.84 points or a percentage change of 0.43 and a total turnover of 7,180,740.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,244.10 with a net positive change of 8.05 points or a percentage change of 0.65 and a total turnover of 18,457,500. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 6,828.89 with a net positive change of 10.73 points or a percentage change of 0.16 and a total turnover of 5,971,000.

E&P sector added 60 points to the index mainly on the back of rise in crude oil prices as trade spat between US and china is softening. Moreover, the market participation in terms of volumes went up by 8 percent, while value fell by 5 percent.

Top five stocks BAHL (-4.2%), HBL (-0.8%), MCB (-1%), COLG (-5%) & UBL (-0.6%), withheld 121 points from the index whereas stocks including PPL (+1.9%), POL (+0.8%), ATRL (+4%), FFC (+0.6%) & PSMC (+3.4%) added 80 points to the index gain.