Volatility witnessed

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed mixed trend during the outgoing week ended February 10, 2017, however investors'' interest in some selective stocks supported the benchmark KSE-100 index to increase by 369.25 points on week-on-week basis to close at 49,925.08 points.
Trading activities on ready counter improved as the average daily trading volumes increased by 12.0 percent to 414.14 million shares as compared to previous week''s average of 369.63 million shares. Average daily trading value, however, decreased by 9.6 percent to Rs 18.60 billion. Total market capitalisation increased by Rs 10 billion to Rs 9.881 trillion.
The foreign investors emerged net buyers of shares worth $5 million during this week as against net selling of $15 million recorded in previous week. Major buying was recorded in fertilisers, commercial bank, technology and other sectors. On the local front, major buyers remained mutual funds with buying of $9.40 million.
An analyst at AKD Securities said that exhibiting signs of investor weariness and mixed responses to earnings releases, the KSE-100 index clocked a muted 0.75 percent on week-on-week basis move, settling at 49,925 points. The market participants'' response to earnings announcements swayed greatly, with investors continuing to favour higher payouts over earnings growth.
Top performers at the bourse were LOTCHEM (up 8.8 percent), NBP (up 8.6 percent), ASTL (up 8.0 percent) and NML (up 7.5 percent), whereas laggard were: PTC (down 4.6 percent), HUBC (down 4.2 percent), AGTL (down 3.8 percent) and ABL (down 3.7 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the outgoing week saw volatile trading sessions near 50,000 points psychological barrier. Across the board activity was observed in all sectors with Engineering, Chemicals, Cements, Fertilisers and OMCs outperforming whereas key heavyweights such as E&Ps and Power Generation underperforming the benchmark KSE-100 index.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the trading commenced on a positive note and continued its momentum through the week, cumulatively adding 369 points, closing at 49,925 poitns. The market witnessed foreign buying this week that supported the local bourse in staying green. The ongoing negotiations between SECP and Brokers provided a few jitters over in house financing, regardless, the index crossed 50,000pts threshold through the week a couple of times. However, the bourse was unable to sustain the level due to technical resistance and profit taking.
Sectors that remain in limelight during the week were Fertilisers (167 points), Cement (127 points), Commercial Banks (108 points), Textile Composite (77 points) and Engineering (51 points). Fertilizer sector was driven by ENGRO (113 points) in anticipation of a better result attributable to higher dividend income and strong payout. Equally, HBL and UBL contributed 86 points and 72 points. Furthermore, contribution from cements was owed to higher off-take in cement dispatches and healthy outlook given strong demand from CPEC projects.