Stocks edge lower on economic worries
KARACHI: Share prices oscillated within a narrow range on Wednesday because of mixed signals on the economic front.
Topline Securities said a statement by the global rating agency Moody’s about the increasing risk around the inconclusiveness of Pakistan’s loan programme under the International Monetary Fund kept the KSE-100 index within a small band.
However, Bloomberg reported that the World Bank has approved a $200 million loan for Pakistan, which provided some support to the market sentiment.
In addition to Shell Pakistan Ltd’s announcement about the planned divestment of shareholding by its foreign sponsor, TPL Properties Ltd declared an interim dividend of Rs2 per share along with a buyback of 50m shares beginning on Aug 2.
As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,514.45 points, down 24.27 points or 0.06 per cent from the preceding session.
The overall trading volume increased 24.5 per cent to 179.6m shares. The traded value went down 8.6pc to $13.1m on a day-on-day basis.
Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included TPL Properties Ltd (45.8m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (22.6m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (19m shares), Dewan Farooque Motors Ltd (4.5m shares) and Shell Pakistan Ltd (4.3m shares).
Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were technology and communication (-27.2 points), power generation and distribution (-20.4 points), food and personal care products (-16.8 points), fertiliser (-16.3 points) and tobacco (-14.1 points).
Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd (Rs589), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs73.07), Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs57), JDW Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs26.79) and Khyber Textile Mills Ltd (Rs25).
Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs340), Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs39.90), Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd (Rs34.18), Gadoon Textile Mills Ltd (Rs19.70) and Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs10.59).
Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.12m.
Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2023