RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) suffered a massive decline Wednesday after panic selling gripped the market amid future contracts rollover and profit-taking in index heavyweights. The KSE 100-index shed 474.65 points to close at 28,717.19 or 1.08 percent against 29,191.84 points Tuesday.
The index opened at 29,191.84 points and hit 29,351.34 points intra-day high. It closed at 28,717.19 points suffering a huge loss of 474.65 points.
Trading took place in 371 scrips, of which 107 closed in positive, 242 in negative and that of 22 remained unchanged.
Analysts said panic selling was witnessed at KSE amid future contracts rollover and profit-taking by foreign investors in overbought oil stocks.
Concerns for circular debt issue in energy sector and export losses in textile, cement sectors played a catalyst role in bearish sentiment despite hopes for heavy receipts on account of $1.3bn 3G/4G telecom license auction and privatisation plans for UBL, PPL and OGDCL GDRs.
Lafarge Pak. XD emerged volume leader with 19.78 million shares. It lost Re 0.03 to close at 13.67. Maple Leaf Cement stood second down by Re 0.83 to close at Rs 30.16 on 17.77 million shares. Jah. Sidd Co closed at Rs 12, down by Re.0.71 on 14.55 million shares.
K-Electric Ltd. Fell by Re 0.17 to close at Rs 6.85 on 10.66 million shares. Fauji Cement Fertilizer shed Rs 0.16 to close at Rs 17.57 on 10 million shares. Engro Fertilize Ltd. also witnessed a decline of Rs 2.6 to close at Rs 66.72 on 9.56 million shares. Pervaiz Ahmed closed at Rs 5.03 on 8.16 million shares. NIB Bank Limited lost Re 0.22 to close at Rs 2.58 on 7.91 million shares. Pak Elektron LtdXB Closed at Rs23.36, moving up by Re 0.44 on 7.8 million shares. B.O.Punjab lost Re 0.26 to close at Rs 10.68 on 7.71 million shares.
Bata (Pak) XD and Bhanero Tex were the top gainers with Rs 45.84 and 39.95 to close at Rs 3411 and Rs 839.90, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Wyeth Pak Ltd were the top losers with Rs 440 and 50 to close at Rs 10,300 and Rs 4,050, respectively.
Another analyst said ignoring opening of 3G/4G spectrum auction and announcement of 3 consortia for OGDC, PPL and UBL privatisation, institutional investors’ profit-taking in index heavyweights pulled the benchmark index down by 1.6 percent.
Lower than expected corporate results also forced investors to trim their holdings. PSO closed at lower circuit-breaker. MCB declined by 1.3 percent and UBL lost 4 percent. EFERT and ENGRO also declined after lower than expected earnings announcement by EFERT. LPCL led the volume with 20mn shares followed by MLCF with 18mn shares and JSCL with 15mn shares.
