Stocks flat on mix of positive, negative news

• KSE-100 settles at 41,860.36 points with a rise of 1.06 points.
• Market remained range bound throughout the day.
• Investors adopted a wait-and-watch stance.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Tuesday had a range-bound session as sceptical investors were observed hunting for lucrative stocks, amid a number of negative cues.

The market remained range bound throughout the day as investors adopted a wait-and-watch stance due to negative economic indicators.

The rupee failed to take a breather as it fell below the 221 barriers against the dollar in the interbank market, which added to selling pressure at the bourse.

Moreover, the prevailing volatility on the political front and economic damage due to flash floods continued to haunt the trading environment.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index settled at 41,860.36 points with an increase of 1.06 points.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that the market remained range-bound throughout the day, due to concerns over rising inflation numbers.

“The benchmark KSE-100 index opened in the positive zone, however, investors’ participation remained sideways due to continuous rupee devaluation against US dollar,” the brokerage house stated.

It further added that volumes remained dry in the main board although hefty volumes were witnessed in the third-tier stocks.

Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (+33.1 points), oil marketing companies (+31.3 points), technology (+25.9 points), automobile (+10 points), and chemicals (+10 points).

Shares of 335 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 146 scrips closed in the green, 166 in the red, and 23 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes rose to 186.26 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 156.80 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs4.01 billion.

Hascol Petroleum was the volume leader with 46.8 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.55 to close at Rs7.09. It was followed by Pakistan International Airlines Corp with 10.87 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.59 to close at Rs4.66 and Fauji Foods with 9.34 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.20 to close at Rs6.80.