KARACHI: The stock market witnessed another range-bound session on Thursday where the KSE-100 index made muted gains of 33.19 points, or 0.07 per cent, to close at 49,908 points.

The index managed to breach the 50,000-point psychological barrier to reach the intraday high of 50,196 points by midday. Yet the market succumbed to selling pressure in the second half. A market participant said liquidity constraints in the absence of in-house financing forced weak holders to sell.

“Renewed interest was seen in the cement sector amid declining coal prices. DG Khan Cement and Fauji Cement closed at their upper limits of 5pc,” stated dealers at Topline Securities.

Volumes grew 8pc to 539 million shares while the trading value rose 18pc to Rs24.5 billion as investors’ interest was tilted to blue-chip companies. A total of 49 stocks closed on their upper circuits compared to 13 finishing off at their lower limits. Increased net foreign buying amounting to $1.83m improved investor confidence.

Analysts at Intermarket Securities said that fear was one of the prevailing themes among bears as the stock market has staged a steady, albeit measured, assault on all-time highs since November 2016. The resilience of local investors was at an all-time high despite chaos relating to the Panama Papers case, the Trump administration threatening to ban entry of Pakistani travellers to the United States and disappointing earnings from the likes of MCB Bank, Allied Bank and Engro Fertilisers.

Support to the KSE-100 index came from DG Khan Cement 5pc, Fauji Cement 4.99pc and National Bank of Pakistan 4.17pc. Cements were on fire after the grapevine suggested that Chinese investors backed out of their initial interest in Dewan’s Hattar plant.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2017