RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange saw another lacklustre session Tuesday following selling pressure due to ongoing political uncertainty in the country. The benchmark KSE-100 index shed 276 points to close at 28,244 points compared to 28,519 points Monday. Analysts said the market was volatile on the second trading day of the week and the market lost further ground during the last hour of trading as the political turmoil intensified. Selling pressure was witnessed across-the-board with low volumes of 76 million shares compared to 82.5 million shares in the previous session, they added.

During the intra-day trading, the market moved in green and red zones and the KSE-100 index touched 28,615 points highest and 28, 212 points lowest level.

“Panic selling continued as the rupee nosedived on political deadlock and massive currency speculation,” Ahsan Mehanti, an analyst at Arif Habib said.

The expected fall in remittances owing to ongoing political crises and reluctance from foreign investors played a catalytic role in the bearish activity at KSE despite Supreme Court ruling on refund of GIDC terming it unconstitutional since Dec 2011 favouring cement, fertiliser, power and textile sectors, he added.

PTI protests across the country, demand for Prime Minister resignation and PAT revolution call to change political system has directly hurt the investors sentiment, Mehanti said. Samar Iqbal, an analyst at Topline, said political crisis is taking longer than investors’ expectations, which created uncertainty in the market.

“Due to ongoing political uncertainty, the market fell by 0.97 percent with low volumes, however the value slightly improved to $46 million (value Rs 4.6 billion),” she said. AICL announced below expectations result however the payout was better, while FFC rallied due to institutional support, she maintained.

Market capitalisation decreased by Rs 64 billion to Rs 6.617 trillion against previous Rs 6.681 trillion. Trading took place in 330 companies, of which 73 closed in green zone, 239 in red, while share prices of 18 companies remained unchanged.

Among top 10 volume leaders, only three companies recorded a positive trend, six closed lower while share price of one company remained stable. Pak Elektron Ltd, on the second consecutive day, emerged volume leader with 8.2 million shares, losing Rs 1.26 to close at Rs 29.54. Lafarge Pak stood second, up Re 0.02 to close at Rs 15.07 on 5.7 million shares. B.O.Punjab closed at Rs 7.95, fell by Re 0.05, on 4 million shares.

Adamjee Insurance lost Re 0.89 to Rs 47.12 on 3.9 million shares. With a trading volume of 2.9 million shares, Fauji Fert gained Rs 2.03 to close at Rs 114.73. Maple Leaf Cement closed at Rs 26.49, down Re 0.31, on 2.7 million shares. JS Bank surged by Re 0.08 to close at Rs 4.72 on 2.2 million shares. K-Electric remained stable at Rs 6.95 on 1.8 million shares.

With a trading volume of 1.7 million, Fauji Cement decreased by Re 0.36 to close at Rs 18.44 while Lucky Cement closed at Rs 358.46, down Rs 18.14 on 1.6 million shares.

Wyeth Pak Ltd and Exide (Pak) were the top gainers with Rs 160.20 and Rs 40.55 to close at Rs 3,364.38 and Rs 851.56, respectively. Rafhan Maize SPOT and Colgate Palmolive were the top losers with Rs 100.00 and Rs 77.50 to close at Rs 10,822.50 and Rs 1,490.00, respectively.

Analysts said major decliners were RMPL (-0.9 percent), COLG (-4.9 percent) and NESTLE (-0.7 percent). Investors preferred dividend plays as FFC (+1.8 percent) rallied on rumors of company’s management buying shares to cope up 34 percent cash dividend earlier.