Stock market falls flat ahead of budget session

KARACHI: Stocks traded marginally green for the most part of the day on Thursday ahead of the announcement of the Economic Survey 2019-20 and a day before the federal budget.

The indices traded within a narrow range for entire session with the KSE 100 index closing flat. Equity markets around the world witnessed a negative trend.

The KSE100 index recorded its intraday high of 35,253.50 after gaining 188.42 points.  It slipped to its day’s low of 34,995.42 after losing 69.66 points midday.

The index settled flat by gaining just 63.50 points and closed 35,128.58 points. The total volume of scripts was 145.261 million valued at Rs6.543 billion.

The lower bench KSE 30 index witnessed a minuscule gain of 18.46 points (0.42%) and closed at 15,330.27. The total volume of shares were 81.184 million.

Adding 300.69 points, the KMI 30 index ended at 56,015.39 while, the KSE All-Share index closed with an accumulation of 14.66 points at 25,012.30. Out of total shares traded, 187 advanced and 119 declined.

The sectors adding maximum points to the KSE 100 index included Fertilizer sector (+50.51 points), Cement sector (+46.53 points) and Investment Banking sector (+26.17 points).

Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DAWH +29.25 points), Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK +26.48 points) and Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC +24.35 points) were top points contributors.

The overall volumes appreciated from 218.37 million shares in last session to 269.30 million shares. Power Cement (POWER +4.61%), TRG Pakistan (TRG -0.49%) and Unity Foods (UNITY +1.17%) were volume leaders of the day. The scripts had 19.23 million shares, 14.55 million shares and 10.80 million shares traded, respectively.

The cement sector added 1.43% to its total market capitalization. Lucky Cement (LUCK +1.83%), D. G. Khan Cement (DGKC +1.42%) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +1.99%) all closed positive.