KARACHI: The national bourse witnessed range-bound activity on Tuesday owing to the investors’ concerns over the economic outlook.

JS Global said the stock market is expected to stay range-bound in coming sessions, adding that investors should take advantage of any opportunity to buy cement and textile sector shares.

According to Topline Securities, market participants remained on the sidelines as they expected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to address the nation and announce “tough decisions” to arrest the deterioration on the macroeconomic front.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,726.06 points, up 58.74 points or 0.14 per cent from a day ago.

The trading volume decreased 21pc to 197.9 million shares while the traded value went down 30.7pc to $31.6m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (21.96m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (15.47m shares), Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd (11.48m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (10.99m shares) and Treet Corporation Ltd (10.94m shares).

Sectors that contributed the highest number of points to the benchmark index included commercial banking (31.02 points), technology and communication (30.74 points), fertiliser (17.67 points), engineering (13.07 points) and investment banking (12.59 points).

Shares contributing most positively to the index included TRG Pakistan Ltd (17.72 points), United Bank Ltd (15.77 points), Habib Bank Ltd (14.2 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (13.73 points) and Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd (12.71 points).

Stocks that contributed most negatively to the index included Lucky Cement Ltd (18.25 points), the Hub Power Company Ltd (17.37 points), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (8.83 points), Fauji Cement Company Ltd (7.83 points) and Fatima Fertiliser Company Ltd (6.66 points).

Shares that registered the largest increases in percentage terms were Punjab Oil Mills Ltd (5.63pc), Allied Bank Ltd (4.61pc), International Steels Ltd (3.68pc), Service Industries Ltd (3.3pc) and Attock Refinery Ltd (2.34pc).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $1.22m.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2022