KSE-100 ends flat after roller-coaster session

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a roller-coaster trading session on Thursday and the KSE-100 Index closed flat after a volatile ride.

A mixture of upside and downside pressures sparked mixed trading in the market.

By the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index closed 5.87 points or 0.01% higher to settle at 42,093.8.

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Trading began with a jump and the market hit its intra-day high at noon. From this point onward, the market began its descent and fell for the rest of the session to close unchanged.

Automobile, cement, chemical and oil spaces saw massive selling while banking space closed with gains.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that the positive momentum continued at the PSX.

“The KSE-100 index opened in the green zone and continued to trade with positive sentiments throughout the trading session, reaching an intraday high of 248.41 points as investors opted to cherry pick strong fundamental stocks given the attractive valuation being offered in the market.”

It added that rally was observed in cement and IT sectors although profit taking was witnessed during the last half of the day.

Investor participation remained healthy as decent volumes were recorded across the board, the report said.

Capital Stake, in its report, said that PSX ended a volatile session on Thursday flat.

“Indices traded in green all day long until finally closing flat, while volumes depreciated from last close,” it said.

On the economic front, as per data released by the All-Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), domestic cement sales declined by 25.12% on YoY basis while exports increased by 168.15% from SPLY.

Sectors contributing positively to the benchmark KSE-100 index included technology and communication sector (51.18 points), banking sector (46.24 points) and food and personal care products sector (39.11 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 255.3 million from 289.8 million on Wednesday while the value of shares traded dropped to Rs9.3 billion from Rs10.2 billion recorded in the previous session.

Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 23.4 million shares followed by Fauji Foods with 17.1 million shares and WorldCall Telecom with 13.6 million shares.

Shares of 359 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 160 registered an increase, 177 recorded a fall and 22 remained unchanged.