Equities mixed

Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday witnessed a mixed trend due to investors' cautious stance over the prevailing political situation in the country. The benchmark KSE-100 index after moving between 46,359.91 points intra-day high and 45,149.49 points intra-day low, closed at 45,413.42 points with a modest increase of 19.36 points. Foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $4.8 million, however, local investors' interest was seen in select stocks that supported the index to close in positive.
Daily trading volumes increased to 204.263 million shares as compared to 190.106 million shares traded Tuesday. The market capitalization decreased by Rs 5 billion to Rs 9.303 trillion. Out of total 348 active scrips, 177 closed in negative, 157 in positive while the value of 14 stocks remained unchanged. TRG Pak was the volume leader with 17.431 million shares. However, it lost Rs 1.85 to close at Rs 36.14 followed by Bank of Punjab that gained Rs 0.03 to close at Rs 11.24 with 16.254 million shares. Engro Polymer closed at Rs 34.54, down Rs 0.36 with 8.826 million shares.
Sapphire Fiber and Mari Petroleum were the top gainers with Rs 62.60 and Rs 56.25, respectively to close at Rs 1,314.79 and Rs 1,602.31. Indus Motor Company and Millat Tractors were the top losers with Rs 60.02 and Rs 42.59, respectively to close at Rs 1,697.97 and Rs 1,298.47.
Arhum Ghous at JS Global Capital said the market continued to show volatility as the benchmark KSE-100 index fluctuated between negative 241 points and plus 964 points to close at 45,413 level. Positivity prevailed in the initial hours of the trading session on news of US Dollar rise to its 2.5 year high against the Pakistan Rupee in the interbank market touching Rs 108.2 level but soon lost sheen due to overall lack of clarity over ongoing political situation in the country. E&P sector extended its previous day gains as oil prices extended their longest winning streak in more than seven years, touching the strongest level in a month. POL (up 4.12 percent) and PPL (up 4.36 percent) were the major gainers of the sector. Mixed sentiments were witnessed in the banking sector as heavyweights HBL (down 2.94 percent) and UBL (down 0.70 percent) closed in the red zone whereas MCB (up 1.96 percent) closed in the green zone. Selling pressure was seen in the steel sector where ISL (down 5.0 percent), INIL (down 5.0 percent) and ASTL (down 5.0 percent) lost value to close in the red zone. PAEL (down 5.0 percent) closed on its lower circuit as dollar surged which is negative for the company as it imports raw material for its production. Following the same trend, auto sector lost value where PSMC (down 5.0 percent), HCAR (down 4.65 percent) and INDU (down 3.41 percent) closed in the red zone.