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KARACHI: The stock market chugged along lazily all through the session with the KSE-100 index closing with minuscule gain of 52.48 points (0.12 per cent) at 42,334.76. Investor interest in trading was at low ebb after several days of lacklustre closing.
The index moved between the intraday high and low by 350 and six points. Trading kicked off on a positive note as investors were elated over the passage of three Financial Action Task Force related bills in joint session of the parliament on Wednesday evening which was not expected by many given its rejection by the Opposition earlier.
Investors also lost interest in the second major issue of the State Bank monetary policy since the date of announcement was stipulated with near consensus predictions of no change in the interest rate.
Foreigners sold shares valued at $1.30 million. Among local participants, major sellers were banks followed by individuals. Mutual Funds, banks and other organisations took fresh positions.
Overall volume stood at 509m shares, up 4pc over the previous day, while value traded stood at $91m, also higher by 3pc. PTCL, Unity Foods, Fauji Foods and Hascol cumulatively contributed almost 193m shares to the total turnover.
Technology sector, which was the top trending the Covid-19, volumes were the highest at 109m shares with mixed gainers and losers. PTCL hit upper circuit whereas chemical helped Engro Polymer touch recent times high.
According to Arif Habib Ltd, sectors providing an upside to the index included chemical, higher by 23 points, technology 17 points and exploration and production 14 points. On the flip side, insurance, lower by 15 points and pharma seven points pulled the benchmark down.
Among scrips, major movers of the day were Engro Polymer, up 6.5pc, Engro Corporation 0.5pc, Pakistan Oilfields 1.1pc, Pakistan State Oil 1.3pc, PTCL 8.8pc and Oil and Gas Development Company 0.1pc which drove the index in the positive zone. Stocks that contributed negatively included Fauji Fertiliser, Adamjee Insurance, Jubilee Life, Nestle and Allied Bank.
Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2020
