KSE remains range-bound

The benchmark KSE-100 share index repeatedly crossed the psychological barrier of 11,000 points this week but was unable to sustain itself at that level, and at the end of the week, the index remained flat week-on-week basis and closed below 11,000 mark.
The KSE-100 share index ended the week on Friday just where it had started, losing 2.36 points to close at 10,924.55 points week-on-week basis while the KSE-30 index closed at 13,441.13 level, down by 172.64 points.
Volumes in both the ready and future counter were recorded on the lower side and posted a respective decline by 23 percent and 25 percent on daily average basis.
The week opened on a positive note on Monday with rumours of some oil and gas discovery driving the market. However, banking scrips came under pressure as rumours of mergers and acquisitions cooled down over the weekend.
Banking scrips picked up later in the week on Wednesday as the MCB bank finally announced price of the much-awaited GDR offering at $17.4 per GDR or Rs264 per share. The demand for the offering at more than $700 million spurred a rally in the entire banking sector.
Muhammad Sohail, an analyst at JS Research, said the market remained range-bound as the index faced strong resistance at 11,000 level. Though, market breached the psychological barrier in intra-day trading, it was unable to close above 11,000 points during the week.
Khurrum Ghufran, an analyst at KASB Securities, said the market opened on a positive note on the first trading of the week with rumours of some oil and gas discovery driving the market. However, banking scrips came under pressure, which picked up on Wednesday as the MCB bank finally announced price of the GDR offering at $17.4 per GDR or Rs264 per share.
Buying in oil and gas scrips allowed the index to breach psychological level of 11,000 points to hit 11,016.39 intra-day high, but it could not sustain the position trend due to selling pressure in banking scrips. The index remained oscillating between negative and positive zones and finally gained 15.84 points to close at 10,942.75 points.
Market also opened on a positive note on Tuesday and due to selling pressure the index moved both ways. At one stage the index witnessed an intra-day high of 11,017.14. Nonetheless, intra-day profit taking in exploration and cement scrips trimmed the day''s gains to 10,889.01 and the session concluded with the KSE-100 index gaining 16.96 points to close at 10,959.71 points. The 11,000 psychological level once again proved to be the major resistance level.
The share market, after improved performance during the last few sessions, took a downturn on Wednesday. The market opened on a positive note; however, decreasing oil prices in the international market convinced investors to opt for profit taking in relevant scrips. Therefore, the KSE-100 share index closed at 10,886.42 points, down by 73.29 points.
The market started on a negative note on Thursday and mixed trend prevailed throughout the day with the index oscillating between negative and positive zones for several times. Although, the KSE-100 index hit 10,907.35 intra-day high, it could not sustain at 10,900 psychological level. Finally, the KSE-100 index shed 6.13 points to close at 10,880.29 level.
The market opened on a strong positive note on Friday and across-the-board buying hit the intra-day high of 10,969.74 level by mid session. However, from this point investors opted for profit taking that minimised the intra-day gains to the closing level. After witnessing a mild technical correction during the last two sessions, the KSE-100 index recovered 44.26 points to close at 10,924.55 level.