KSE sees another dull session

KARACHI - Mixed activities at the KSE resulted in nominal change on board ahead of Eid holidays as benchmark 100-index added only one point to close at 9,206 levels.
Sluggish opening pushed the index into the negative territory, wherein the index heavy weight OGDC played a major role, as the stock faced fresh float offered by the offshore participants, with various reservations on revenue and payouts the locals stayed aloof.
Consistent accumulation in the low value stocks, dividend paying stocks wherein yields continue to stay in double digits, and the beneficiaries high demand of yarn in international markets, disallowed extended bearish spell besides keeping excitement linked to short term trades alive.
“Less than 100 million volumes suggested that investors were not wiling to take any risk during the long weekend. All in all, twenty-one volume leading stocks dominated Thursday’s show, contributing 78 percent of total volume. Most of the stocks were unable to impress the investors with price appreciation”, said market expert Shahid Ali.
The Karachi Stock Exchange’s 100 share index started the trading in red zone with a loss of 6.25 points, however, index managed to close the day at 9,206.21 levels with a gain of 1.64 points. On the other hand, KSE 30-index shed 23.69 points to close at 9706.48 points.
Trading activity was further improved to 84.660m shares as compared to last trading session’s ready market turnover of 82.421m shares. Moreover, total trading value of the market inched up to Rs 4.022b against Rs 3.681 of last session.
Market capitalisation remained Rs 2.658tr on Thursday, almost same to its last figure of Wednesday. Out of 361 actively traded symbols at the KSE, as many as 206 advanced, 139 declined while the worth of the shares of 16 cos remained unchanged. BoP yet again outshined the index with its performance after expectation of some fundamental changes. The index heavy weights were unable to impress the investors with their performance. From the banking front ABL was the prominent stock after hitting the upper cap.