KARACHI: Stocks remained range-bound on Wednesday with the KSE-100 index closing almost flat at 49,017 points.

The volume of shares traded during the day improved further, rising by 41pc over the earlier day to 317 million shares while the trading value increased 18pc to Rs13.2 billion. K-Electric Ltd (KEL) and Bank of Punjab (BoP) led the volumes with over 79m shares traded combined. Also, 37 stocks closed on their upper circuit while only eight names closed at their lower limit.

Upside contribution of 53 points to the index came from Millat Tractors which rose 4.7pc, BoP 12.7pc and JDW Sugar Mills 4.7pc. The increase was offset by a decline of 55 points led by KEL which dropped 5.2pc, United Bank 0.9pc and Habib Bank 0.3pc. Other laggards for the day included Kohinoor Textile Mills (down 1.76pc) and Mari Petroleum (down 1.32pc).

Dealers at JS Global said oil prices slipped to three-month lows after data showed faster-than-expected rise in US crude inventories, piling pressure on Organi­sation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to extend output cuts beyond June. Pakistan Petroleum (down 0.45pc) was the major laggard in the exploration and production sector.

Pak Elektron Ltd closed in the black with a gain of 2.44pc. Mixed sentiment was witnessed in pharmaceuticals where GlaxoSmithKline fell 1.72pc and Abbott Laboratories dropped 0.21pc as the National Accountability Bureau was reported to have begun an inquiry into recent drug price hikes, sale of unregistered stents at high prices and the absence of medicine records.

Engro Fertilisers (down 0.4pc) came under pressure amid declining sentiment following release of data by the National Fertiliser Development Centre.

“Late-session support in oversold banking and cement stocks helped the index to close above session lows. Trade remained thin on concerns on liquidity in second- and third-tier scrips,” Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017