RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: Bears dominated the Wednesday’s proceedings on the Karachi share market and the benchmark KSE-100 index lost another 112 points to close at 30,113 points compared to 30,226 points Tuesday.
“A bearish activity was witnessed at KSE amid institutional profit-taking in select stocks across-the-board amid concerns limited foreign interest, energy shortfall for industrial units in textile, fertiliser sectors and political tension in Sindh,” said Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib.
He said the government initiatives on privatisation of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), 14-point future roadmap for 7 percent GDP growth by 2018 announced by the Finance Minister failed to change the sentiment despite recovery witnessed in global equities
During the intraday trading, the index touched 30,349 points highest and 30,084 point lowest levels. However, trading volume witnessed an upward trend and overall some 259 million shares changed hands compared to 165 million in the previous session.
Analysts at JS said bears continued to have control as the market closed with 112 points down. “Profit-taking was witnessed as the foreign investors are expected to be net sellers,” they added.
SEARL and GLAXO continued euphoric growth as the pharmaceutical sector has urged the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to finalise the pricing policy that would benefit the government and the consumers.
However, textile sector remained under pressure as SNGP has announced that there will be no gas for the industry during three months of winter due to shortage. NML & NCL announced first quarter EPS of Rs1.14 (down by 74 percent QoQ) and LPS of Rs1.19, respectively.
“We expect the market to remain volatile in the next few sessions, as investors may choose to book profits ahead of the long weekend,” they maintained.
Market capitalisation decreased by Rs 30 billion to Rs 6.982 trillion down from Rs7.012 trillion. Trading took place in 404 companies, of which 135 closed in green zone, 249 in the red, while 20 remained unchanged.
Among top 10 volume leaders, five companies recorded a negative growth. With 41.63 million shares, Lalpir Power emerged the volume leader, gaining Re 1 to close at Rs 22.06. Faysal Bank stood second, down Re 0.43 to close at Rs 18.16 on 34.48 million shares. Engro Fertilizer Ltd ranked third with 27.7 million shares, gaining Rs 2.65 to Rs 59.43.
Maple Leaf Cement closed at Rs 29.96, down Re 0.05 on 8.9 million shares. Some 7.9 million shares of B.O.Punjab were traded and the scrip gained Re 0.24 to Rs 8.73. Lafarge Pak lost Re 0.28 to Rs 15.67 on 6.1 million shares. Some 5.9 million shares of Engro Corp were traded and the scrip decreased by Rs 2.75 to Rs 163.33. D.G.K Cement closed at Rs 81.22, gaining Re 0.65 on 5.8 million shares.
Hascol Petrol moved up by Re 0.92 to Rs 74.35 on 5.4 million volumes and with some 5.3 million shares trading, Nishat (Chun) XD closed at Rs 40.83, down Rs 1.34.
Island Textile XD and Hinopak Motors were the top gainers with Rs 48.14 and Rs 37.58 to close at Rs 1,089.99 and Rs 789.30, respectively. Nestle Pak SPOT and Unilever Foods were the top losers with Rs 375.00 and Rs 129.00 to close at Rs 8,160.00 and Rs 8,570.00, respectively.
