KARACHI: Stocks remained subdued on Monday for the second consecutive session as the 47,000-point barrier again proved a tough nut to crack.

Trading started on a dismal note with the KSE 100-share index barely moving as investors were undecided on the direction of the market. The trend remained choppy with the index swaying between intraday low of 247 points and high of 168 points. The benchmark settled with a loss of 184 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 46,721.87.

The figures released by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan in the evening showed foreign selling of stocks worth $1.36m. Among the locals, banks were the major spoilers that dumped shares of $4.66m.

All other participants helped mop up liquidity in the lead of companies that bought stocks in the sum of $3.19m; followed by brokers picking up shares at dips amounting to $2.06m and insurance companies building fresh positions in shares of $1.07m.

Refineries grabbed the spotlight with almost all taking big strides forward. National Refinery Ltd closed near its upper limit with the stock price rising slightly short of Rs500, Pakistan Refinery, Attock Refinery, Pakistan Oilfields were all up on reports that Pakistan had decided to seek investment from China and offered a partnership of $9bn in Parco’s coastal refinery.

Also, the revised tariff deals with the IPPs had been approved by ECC with the government ready to pay Rs161bn to the power sector to reduce the perennial circular debt.

Technology stocks continued to fare better. Netsol could not retain the early gains and retreated while TRG and Pak Datacom hit their upper circuits. Oil & gas exploration stocks also turned green as the international oil prices touched $60 a barrel.

Profit-booking was observed in most other sectors including banks, cement and fertiliser sectors. Among scrips, major drags on the index were Engro, Dawood Hercules, Fauji Fertiliser and HBL.

The traded volume for the day fell 3pc over the previous session to 428m shares.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2021