Market remain volatile as the benchmark made a high of 177 and a low of 161 points on Thursday. Traders are of the view that lack of interest kept participants away.
Foreign investors sold shares worth $1.38m and individuals also exchanged cash for shares, lest the market took another dip. Analysts are of the view that market will remain directionless for the next two days in the light of opposition protests.
Value investing by banks in the last hour some how helped the market to return to green. Head of sales at First National Equities Ali Nadeem said: “Brokers had sold off stocks earlier in thee week and they repurchased at dips to square their position.”
FATF concerns are also a major reason as investors are keeping a close eye on that as well.
“Concerns over political uncertainty and inflationary tendency caused investors to stay at bay rather than taking long positions,” affirmed analysts at Arif Habib Ltd.
Overall trading activity remained thin for most of the session and only saw brisk buying by the close of session. The volume declined 20pc further to 232.8m shares, from 290.1m. Traded value also dropped by 13pc to $52.3m.
Oil and gas marketing companies, cement and steel stocks sustained selling pressure, despite positive expectations of investors on upcoming quarterly announcements. Exploration and production scrips made marginal gains as international oil prices improved.
