LAHORE: As investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange eagerly awaited for the verdict against the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family, indices remained slow yet bounced back to settle the last trading session of the week in green by 45 points at 40284.14, as investors awaited the Avenfield verdict.
The bench KSE 100 index dropped 209.39 points to touch the intraday low of 40029.42 points, however, jumped 197.16 points to touch the intraday high at 40435.97. The market also experienced a brief buying spree after the Avenfield verdict was announced at around 4 pm, that was initially due to be announced at 12:30 pm on Friday, was delayed for the third time till 3:30 pm, before being announced at 4 pm.
According to a senior market analyst, the verdict is likely to boost market participation and investor confidence since the recent developments in the Nawaz – Pamana leaks saga will put an end to the uncertainty in the markets.
The KSE 100 touched intraday low of 40,028.64 nearly within half hour of opening. The index swayed in both directions and ended higher by 45.33 points at 40,435.97. The KMI 30 share index managed to gather 382.39 points and settled at 68,221.22. Whereas, the KSE All-share index was up by 125.65 points.
Barring K-Electric Limited (KEL), investors lacked interest. K-Electric Limited (KEL) alone contributed around 38 per cent of total market volumes. The total market volume depreciated by nearly 28 per cent from the last session and was recorded at 103.54 million on Friday. Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL +0.18 per cent) was next with 2.89 million shares exchanged. Followed by D. G. Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +0.33 per cent) and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +1.36 per cent). The scripts saw 2.55 million and 2.44 million shares traded.
The cement sector managed to close with a slight increase of 0.06 per cent in its cumulative market capitalisation. Big names closed with small gains, D. G. Khan Cement Company (DGKC 0.33 per cent), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF 0.13 per cent). Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK), on the contrary, was down by 0.32 per cent.
Singer Pakistan Limited (SING +2.33 per cent) recently made an announcement to change its name to Waves Singer Pakistan Limited. A new security symbol has been assigned to the company i.e. “Waves”. The name and symbol will be changed on July 11th, 2018.
Foreign investors were net sellers in the 4 sessions of the week, $8.13 million. Commercial banks once again took the worst hit. Local funds also concluded Monday to Thursday with a net outflow of $14.82 million. Local banks and individuals provided some support to the market, net inflow for the first four sessions of $7.03 million and $6.79 million respectively.
Technically speaking, the KSE 100 index formed another small body candle with a long upper and lower shadow on charts as fear kept a tight grip on market participants. Ongoing momentum can push the KSE 100 index to levels last seen in October 2017 (sub 40,000). Major supports are at 200wk EMA (38,488), 52 week low (37,736) and 50 month EMA (37,729). On the flip side, 40,755 (previous day high) is immediate resistance.
