RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: After incessant fluctuation, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) on Monday closed lower as investors were cautious after riots between police and protestors in Islamabad.

The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 74 points to close at 28,494 points compared to 28,568 points in the previous session. During the intraday trading, market fell by some 1.4 percent amid political uncertainty, however later recovered partially in expectations of some kind of resolution after the Supreme Court hinted the mediation between political parties.

Commenting on the market situation, Ahsan Mehanti - analyst at Arif Habib - said that stocks closed lower amid concerns for political standoff against protesters across the country.

Rupee instability, political deadlock impacted the sentiments amid support by state owned institutions, positive CPI data for August 2014 at 6.99 percent (Year on Year) supported to index, he said.

Fall in banking spreads, huge losses on political crises played a catalyst role in bearish activity at KSE despite Supreme Court ruling on refund of GIDC for industrial sector, he added.

During the intra-day trading, the KSE-100 index also touched 28,577 points highest and 28,180 points at lowest level. Following the selling pressure volume at the ready counter declined to 123 million shares compared to 188 million in previous session. Market capitalisation fell by Rs 16 billion to Rs 6.711 trillion against previous Rs 6.727 trillion. Trading took place in 325 companies, of which 121 closed in green zone, 185 in red, while share price of some 19 companies were remain unchanged.

Among top 10 volume leaders, five companies recorded a positive trend. K-Electric Ltd emerged the volume leader as its some 19.54 million shares were traded, gaining Re 0.55 to close at Rs 8.26. Maple Leaf Cement stood second and increased by Re 0.02 to close at Rs 26.63 on 8.7 million shares. Jah Sidd Co ranked on third with 7.67 million shares and it closed at Rs 8.84, up by Re 0.57. With trading volume of 7.37 million, Pak Elektron Ltd lost Re 0.06 to Rs 29.33.

BOP declined by Re 0.07 to close at Rs 7.99 on seven million shares. Some 4.3 million shares of Faysal Bank were traded and it closed at Rs 14.66, fell by Re 0.37. DG Khan Cement lost Rs 1.73 to Rs 73.42 on 3.2 million shares. Lafarge Pak gained Re 0.07 to Rs 15.55 and its some 3.11 million shares were traded.

With trading volume of 2.77 million, JS Bank Ltd up by Re 0.13 to close at Rs 5.08 and Engro Fertilizer Ltd closed at Rs 52.58, down by Rs 1.32 on 2.7 million shares. Wyeth Pak Ltd and Pak Tobacco were the top gainers with Rs 167.89 and Rs 49 to close at Rs 3,528.00 and Rs 1,150, respectively. Rafhan Maize and Bata Pak were the top losers and declined by Rs 275 and Rs 165 to close at Rs 10,500 and Rs 3,150 respectively.

“Due to riots between police and protestors over the weekend, investors remained cautious, according market act negatively,” said Samar Iqbal analyst at Topline securities. In addition, lower than expected CPI for the month of July at 6.99 percent also given some support to the market. “Market after falling by 1.4 percent recovered partially on Monday intraday in expectations of some kind of resolution after Supreme Court hinted the mediation between political parties,” she added.

At end of the session, the KSE-100 index declined by 0.26 percent and volumes declined by 35 percent to 123 million shares. Value also fell by 38 percent to 61 million (value Rs 6.1 billion). KEL remained volume leader with 20mn shares after announcing dividend last week Profit taking was seen in PSO and MLCF Samar Iqbal Assistant Vice President Equity Sales.