Stocks on Tuesday were flattened by profit-taking as central bank’s slashing its growth forecast for this fiscal raised questions over economic recovery amid IMF loan limbo, traders said.
Benchmark KSE-100-share Index eased by 36.14 points or 0.08 percent to 44,887.77 points after swinging between 45,255.92 and 44,847.71 points during the .
Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp, said, equities at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended lower amid thin trade as economic concerns deepened after SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) lowered the growth estimate for FY2022.
Political noise and uncertainty over the outcome of IMF policy board review on Jan 28 did not let the stocks find a way up, Mehanti said.
However, he added that leveraged stocks in the textile and cement sector outperformed on SBP’s decision to hold the policy rate intact.
SBP in its Monetary Policy Statement on Monday said overall, growth in FY2022 was expected around the middle of the forecast range of 4-5 percent, slightly lower than previous expectations in light of moderating demand indicators and higher base effects from the upward revision in last year’s growth rate.
SBP preserved the policy rate, as widely hoped, saying rates would remain frozen for some time now as inflation was easing, while external current account was showing improvement amid fiscal tightening.
“We don’t see a case for a tighter monetary policy because of the fiscal consolidation after the enactment of the supplementary finance bill,” said SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir, while speaking at a virtual news conference.
KSE-30 Shares Index also closed flat with a loss of 30.27 points or 0.17 percent to 17,969.27 points.
Traded shares, however, increased by 47 million to 207.04 million from 160.21 million. Trading value increased to Rs8.11 billion from Rs5.74 billion. Market capital fell to Rs7.696 trillion from Rs7.709 trillion. Out of 333 actives in the session, 148 moved higher, 161 lower, while 24 held status quo.
Topline Securities in its daily market review said equities closed slightly negative.
The market opened on a positive note as SBP in its latest Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) maintained the policy rate at 9.75 percent, which led the market to make an intraday high of 332 points, the brokerage said.
However, it added that this positivity didn’t sustain and profit-taking ensued in the second half of the session with the major dent coming from the technology sector as TRG, SYS, OCTOPUS, and AVN closed lower.
Lucky Cement was the top gainer of the day, rising Rs19.71 to Rs684.93 per share, followed by Indus Motor Co, up Rs12.82 to close at Rs1,308.13 per share.
Colgate Palmolive led the losers by falling Rs126 to Rs2,294.01 per share, followed by Sapphire Fiber, down Rs70.20 to end at Rs865.80 per share.
JS Research in its market wrap said after getting off to a positive start the market lost ground to profit-taking.
“Going forward, ongoing rollover week, falling international markets, and any uncertainty on the IMF (International Monetary Fund) front can bring more weakness in the local market,” the brokerage said.
Waves Singer was the volume leader with 20.02 million shares, followed by TRG Pak Ltd that posted a trade of 11.11 million shares.
Stocks that recorded significant turnover included Treet Corp, Cnergyico PK, WorldCall Telecom, Kot Addu Power, TPL Properties, Hascol Petrol, Saif Power Ltd, and Telecard Limited. Turnover in the future contracts shrank to 150.91 million shares from 196.31 million on Monday.