RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Equities remained in red Friday with the KSE-100 index tumbling by another 274 points or 0.69 percent to close at 39,465 points.

The volatile benchmark index hit the session’s high and low of 39,755 and 39,433 points in intraday trade.

The trading volume ended lower at 329 million shares compared to the previous 365 million. The traded value also settled in negative dropping to Rs12.59 billion from Rs13.72 of last session.

The number of stocks traded totalled at 428, of which 157 rose, 251 declined and that of 20 stayed unchanged. The market capital fell to Rs7.95 trillion against Thursday’s Rs8.0 trillion.

Foreign investors ended the week on a negative note to have sold net portfolios of $384,079.

Dewan Cement, which rose to Rs21.94 at close, led volumes with 38.7 million turnover. Other best performing issues were Byco Petroleum, K-Electric, SNGPL, Dewan Salman, Aisha Steel Mill, Ghani Automobile, Telecard Limited, Pervez Ahmed and TRG Pakistan.

Trade in the futures rose to 23.9 million contracts from 22.6 million of the previous day.

“Stocks closed bearish amid consolidation post major earning announcements at PSX,” Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said.

Trade remained higher in second- and third-tier scrips on strong valuations, the analyst said.

“Institutional profit-taking in blue chips and foreign outflows played a catalytic role in bearish close,” he added.

Ahmed Saeed Khan of JS Research said volatility prevailed in Friday’s trading session.

“Negativity in the market was led by the oil sector that remained under pressure as global crude oil prices continued to slide on rising US inventory figures,” he said.

Top laggards were POL and MPCL with 2.10 percent and 2.08 percent decline.

“Concerns over the possibility of oversupply situation in the cement industry post expansions by cement manufacturers continued to hamper the cement sector’s sentiments as more than half of the listed cement companies have already announced expansions,” said Khan. Lower than expected CPI for just-concluded August kept the mood dull in banking sector, he maintained.

“Going forward, we expect volatility to persist in the upcoming week,” the analyst said.