Unable to sustain 46,000 level, KSE-100 retreats 400 points

Pakistan stocks were unable to sustain the 46,000-point level as the benchmark KSE-100 Index retreated 0.86% on Thursday, only a day after registering a similar increase, with investors resorting to wide-scale profit-booking.

Volume of shares on the all-share index improved further, amounting to nearly 286 million, but still a far cry from levels usually seen at the stock market.

On Thursday, the benchmark opened positive as investors reviewed the MSCI announcement that will see Pakistan getting added to the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index in May this year.

However, profit-taking began soon after, indicating investors' aversion to risk in the current market.

At close, the KSE-100 settled with a drop of 399.72 points or 0.86% to finish at 45,940.04.

“Major negativity came from banking sector where HBL, MCB, BAHL, NBP and ABL closed lower, denting a cumulative 160 points from the KSE-100 Index,” said Topline Securities in its post-market comment.

“Furthermore, technology and communication sector also witnessed profit taking where SYS and TRG closed lower from the previous day."

KSE-100 closes at highest level since Nov 19 after nearly 400-point gain

On the economic front, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Finance, the Government of Pakistan has collected Rs3.96 trillion revenue during 1HFY22, which is around 61% of total revenue collected during the previous fiscal year.

“Cement sector stayed under pressure due to higher international coal prices. In the fertiliser sector, EFERT remained in the limelight as it announced financial results in line with market expectations,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL).

“Index level of 46,000 was unable to digest by the investors as profit-taking was observed across the board in the last trading hour, which led the market to close in the red zone,” it added.

Meanwhile, Engro Fertilizers reported full-year earnings of Rs21.09 billion (Rs15.8/share) compared to previous year's Rs18.13bn (Rs13.6/share), an increase of 16% year-on-year, said IGI Securities in a note.

It also announced a final cash dividend of Rs5 per share, which combined with interim dividend of Rs11.5 per share brings cumulative dividend for the year to Rs16.5 per share.

Sectors driving the KSE-100 Index lower included banking (129.92 points), technology and communication (59.44 points) and fertiliser (47.79 points).

Volume on the all-share index increased to 285.97 million from 243.15 million on Wednesday. The value of shares traded though declined to Rs9.27 billion from Rs9.94 billion recorded in the previous session.

Telecard Limited was the volume leader with 45.41 million shares, followed by TPL Properties with 16.95 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 13.72 million shares.

Shares of 367 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 123 registered an increase, 222 recorded a fall, and 22 remained unchanged.