Equities sluggish

The Karachi share market witnessed a dull session Wednesday and the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 24 points to close at 33,934 points down from 33,958 points. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said that stocks closed lower amid thin trade on pressure in global commodities. "Dismal fertilisers sales data, falling cement exports and uncertainty over rupee-dollar parity played a catalytic role in the bearish close," he added.
However, he said the index managed to close above session lows amid support in gas distribution companies after OGRA approvals on raise in gas tariff. During the intraday day trading, the index mainly moved in the red zone, touching 33,686 points lowest, however later the market witnessed some recovery and at the end of the session, the index closed with a slight decline of 24 points.
Trading activity at the ready counter was slightly lower than previous session and overall some 152 million shares were traded Wednesday compared to 206 million a day earlier. The market capitalisation declined by Rs 15 billion to Rs 7.186 trillion, while daily trading value decreased to Rs 6.75 billion. Trading took place in 352 companies, of which 152 closed in green zone, 177 in the red, while share prices of 23 companies remained unchanged.
Mohammad Rizwan, analyst at Topline Securities said Pakistan's benchmark index started the day on a negative note. However, institutional buying in later half of the session provided some respite. "Heavy volume activity was seen in gas utility stocks on the back of favourable outcome on UfG losses. As a result, SSGC and SNGP gained 2.48 percent and 1.43 percent, respectively," he added.
Major activity was seen in Pace (Pak) Ltd, SSGC, TRG and KE with volumes of 12.1 million, 11.2 million, 10.3 million and 9.9 million shares, respectively. "Volatility continued to persist in Wednesday's session as the index juggled between -270 and +12 points to close down 24 points at 33,934 on the back of negative news flow dampening investor confidence," said Ahmed Saeed Khan, an analyst at JS. Release of good auto sales numbers for October translated into a rally in the sector. GHNL and MTL were top performers of the sector, he added.
Initial negativity in the index led to buying from the mutual funds into cement and E&P sector, closing many stocks of the aforementioned sectors in the green zone, he maintained. Bata (Pak) XD and Pak Tobacco SPOT were the top gainers with Rs 50.00 and Rs 47.91 to close at Rs 2,950.00 and Rs 1,031.00, respectively. Unilever Foods and Nestle Pak XD were the top losers with Rs 350.00 and Rs 345.00 to close at Rs 6,650.00 and Rs 8,665.00, respectively.