KARACHI - Stock closed marginally in the red zone as yesterday’s fall kept the bulls in a cautious mood. The banking sector kicked off the full year results season as MCB Bank -1.18pc reported below expected earnings driving the index down.
Benchmark KSE-100 index remained range bound today with dull participation. With decline of 15 points the index closed at 26240.41 level with volumes declining by 27pc to Rs 6.176 billion. Equity expert at Topline Securities Asad Siddiqui said institutional interest was seen in PTC as positive decision on transfer of properties took place in CCI. MCB bank and ABL announced their results on Tuesday. MCB’s result was in line with market expectations while ABL’s was higher on the back of tax reversal. At the tail end of the session, investors’ interest was seen in Engro, LPCL, EFOODS and FCCL amongst others, he added.
KSE-Allsahre index added 16.41 points or 0.08 percent to close the day at 19571.31 points, KSE-30 index off by 24.71 points or 0.13 percent to conclude the session at 18961.79 points while KMI-30 share index misplaced 33.99 points or 0.08 percent to stop the day at 43439.86 points.
Senior manager at JS Global Faran Rizvi said the Engro group continued to charm investors as Efert +5pc hit limit up as optimism of the company getting gas at a concessionary 70 cents remained high post its first analyst briefing. The market should resume upwards momentum as selling from local mutual funds following a large redemption from a government pension fund exhausted. The ongoing result season should also invite volumes in top tier names, he added.
Top ten scrips were led by JS Co with 40.843 million shares off by Re 0.80 to Rs 12.80. Lafarge Pak was on the second position with 19.604 million shares up by Re 0.63 to Rs 10.97. It was followed by Engro Fertilizer Ltd with 11.465 million shares up by Rs 1.91 to Rs 51.46, Azgard Nine with 10.739 million shares higher by Re 0.32 to Rs 9 and PTCLA with 10.212 million shares as it closed at Rs 29.09 after opening at Rs 28.70.