RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange Thursday witnessed a technical correction and the KSE-100 Index shed 107 points to close at 29,350 points. Although the index heavyweights saw selling pressure, the volumes remained healthy.
During the intra-day trading the index touched 29,669 highest and 29,070 lowest levels. The trading side however closed on positive note and the volumes at the ready counter rose to 496.323 million shares from 391.632 million shares. Market capitalisation slipped to Rs7.062 trillion against Rs7.082 trillion.
“In spite of receiving $2bn on account of Eurobond sale, the local bourse witnessed some profit-taking amid disappointed March quarter results,” said Samar Iqbal, an analyst at Topline Securities.
She said the traded value in rupee-term increased by 21 percent to Rs17bn last seen in July 2013. Index heavyweights oil and cement sectors witnessed selling pressure. POL, APL and NRL announced their below-expectation results while ATRL’s earnings remained better than market consensus, she added.
She said banking stocks remained on investors’ radar as scrips such as UBL, MCB, ABL and FABL remained in the limelight. AKBL also announced better-than-expected March quarter results and gained 4 percent at close.
Out of total 371 active stocks, 112 remained positive, 243 negative and that of 16 stayed unchanged.
Two top gainers for the day were Unilever Foods XD, which shot up by Rs303.03 to Rs89889.89 and Nestle Pak XD, which climbed by Rs89 to Rs8200. The top losers were Rafhan Maize, which shed Rs451.50 to Rs10500 and Bata (Pak) XD, which lost Rs44.34 to Rs3223.58.
Among the top 10 companies, K-Electric led the list with 99m shares. It gained 29 paisa to Rs7.12; NIB Bank Limited increased by three paisa to Rs2.88 on 48m shares; and Faysal Bank improved by 35 paisa to close at Rs17.05 on 28m shares.
TRG Pakistan gained 15 paisa to close at Rs15.43 on 21m shares; Jahangir Siddiqui Company witnessed a loss of 31 paisa to reach Rs13.25 on 14m shares; and Silk Bank improved by seven paisa to close at Rs2.59 on 13m shares.
PTCLA XD decreased by 18 paisa to close at Rs30.77 on 13m shares; Telecard Limited gained 15 paisa to close at Rs5.64 on 12m shares; Bank of Punjab lost 25 paisa to close at Rs11.03 on 12m shares; and Samba Bank registered a growth of 71 paisa to close at Rs9.58 on 11m shares.
