KARACHI: The trading session provided some respite to the battered stock exchange despite volatile trading on Thursday with value buying in the opening and closing hours overcoming selling pressure to take the market up a notch.
Selling pressure was the most evident in the cement sector where notable names ended in the red zone.
Ongoing political uncertainty also continued to dent investor interest amid thin trading in stocks listed on the KSE-100 index.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index registered a rise of 7.49 points or 0.02% to stand at 40,468.49.
Elixir Securities, in its report, stated that Pakistan equities closed little changed after witnessing volatile trading with the benchmark index trading in a wide range of 800 points.
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“The day started on a positive note as the wider market carried momentum from the late surge yesterday (Wednesday) with the index gaining as much as 360 points in early hours to test highs above 40,800,” the report said.
However from there on, it was all downhill as profit-taking amid shallow depth of bids on screen put the index on a path of steady decline. Cement stocks borne the brunt of selling pressure.
The final 90 minutes of trading saw the index bounce back from the 40,000 support, driven by value buying in notable blue chips. Overall, the market witnessed lower activity as turnover on the KSE All-share Index fell 15%.
One noteworthy announcement was of Pioneer Cement (-3%) that signed an MoU with sponsors of Galadari Cement to acquire a 100% stake in their 3,500-ton-per-day partially constructed plant.
“(We) expect volatile and choppy trading to continue tomorrow (Friday) while flows will set tone in the wider market in the days ahead,” Elixir added.
Overall, trading volumes fell to 150 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 192 million.
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Shares of 405 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 165 stocks closed higher, 221 declined while 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.2 billion.
TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 12 million shares, gaining Rs0.33 to close at Rs34.20. It was followed by Chakwal Spinning with 7.51 million shares, losing Rs1 to close at Rs10.92 and The Bank of Punjab with 7.45 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs9.09.
The post Market watch: Stocks take a breather as index rises marginally appeared first on The Express Tribune.
Source: Tribune News | Market watch: Stocks take a breather as index rises marginally
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