KARACHI: Trading activity remained sideways on Tuesday as value hunters went after dividend-yielding stocks available at cheaper multiples on the national bourse.

Mounting inflation and the expectation of a hawkish stance in the monetary policy announcement caused the market to open on a bleak note. Hefty volumes were traded in the third-tier stocks while institutional activity stayed lacklustre, according to Arif Habib Ltd.

Short-sellers jumped in to square off their positions in the last trading hour, which lifted the market into the green zone.

As a result, the KSE-100 index added 370.34 points or 0.86 per cent to close at 43,246.71 points.

Market participation increased 41.2pc to 212.3 million shares while the value of traded shares also went up 28.5pc to $38.1m.

Sectors contributing the highest number of points to the benchmark index included cement (92.94 points), technology and communication (91.32 points), refinery (28.40 points), textile composite (24.97 points) and food and personal care (24.86 points).

Stocks that contributed significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (21.07m shares), Byco Petroleum Ltd (16.14m shares), TPL Properties Ltd (12.76m shares), TeleCard Ltd (11.81m shares) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (8.9m shares).

Shares contributing positively to the index were TRG Pakistan Ltd (75.49 points), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (24.52 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (24.15 points), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (20.18 points) and Unity Foods Ltd (17.08 points).

Stocks that took away the maximum number of points from the index included Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (13.95 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (12.18 points), Allied Bank Ltd (11.8 points), MCB Bank Ltd (11.74 points) and Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Ltd (7.87 points).

Stocks recording the biggest increases in percentage terms included Azgard Nine Ltd, which went up 9.72pc, followed by TRG Pakistan Ltd (7.5pc), Bannu Woollen Mills Ltd (7.5pc), Avanceon Ltd (6.86pc) and Unity Foods Ltd (6.64pc).

Foreign investors remained net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $2.21m on a net basis.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2021