KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended down by 13 points on Wednesday as market traded in narrow band. The index closed at 38,023 points as against 38,023 points showing a decline of 13 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in a narrow band. After an initial increase of 83 points, Banks, Cement, Steel and Fertilizer scrips saw selling pressure that took the index down by 181 points, however, recovery in Index had the final tally to -13 points (unadjusted).
Cement sector showed increase in prices on the back of unconfirmed news of increase in cement prices in Northern region. Banks on the other hand remained timid throughout the day.
E&P sector saw increase in trading volume however, price performance remained more or less contained. Fertilizer Sector saw decline in prices on the back of news of Government importing Urea, adding to the woes of local manufacturers. Steel sector scrips that showed some improvement during the day reverted price gains (although partially) in the last half hour.
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+77 points), Cement (+46 points), Food (+14 points), Banks (-91 points), Pharma (-15 points), Chemical (-13 points), Power (-12 points).
Volumes increased from 144.5mn shares to 153.3mn shares (+6 percent DoD). Average traded value, on the contrary, declined by 5 percent to reach US$ 26.3mn as against US$ 27.7mn.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITYR1, WTL, FCCL, KEL and UNITY, which formed 62 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include OGDC (+37 points), POL (+27 points), LUCK (+19 points), PSEL (+16 points), and PPL (+14 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-31 points), MCB (-27 points), UBL (-14 points), FFC (-12 points) and SEARL (-11 points).
