RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: The absence of triggers made the volatile Karachi share market more depressed Thursday and the KSE-100 index shed 82.50 points for the fourth consecutive day to close at 33,762.80 points from 33,845.30 points Wednesday. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said the market stayed bearish amid futures contracts rollover and weaker earnings outlook in oil, banking and cement sectors on falling international oil prices, lower banking spreads and thin cement makers margins. Trading on the futures market was seen skyrocketing to 50.6 million contracts compared to the previous 34.63 million.
Sentiments, equity analyst said, remained weak amid consolidation in blue chip stocks and institutional support in blue chip banking stocks after strong results and record cash payout announced by National Bank of Pakistan. The session high and low were recorded at 33,997.20 and 33,699.38 points. The trading volume increased to 170 million from previous 141 million shares.
The foreign portfolio investment settled in the red zone with a net selling of $ 2.59 million. The value of the stocks traded appreciated to Rs 8.58 billion from Rs 6.96 billion.
Of the total 375 scrips traded, 149 went up, 205 went down and that of 19 remained unchanged. The market capital inched down to Rs 7.623 trillion from Rs 7.615 trillion of the earlier session. K-Electric with 19 million of its listed shares traded led the day's volume but lost eight paisa to close at Rs 8.22.
Other best performers were National Bank of Pakistan trading by 13.8 million, Pakistan International Bulk Terminal 11.5 million, Jahangir Siddiqui Company 9.8 million, Pak Elektron 9.2 million, Fauji Cement 7.2 million, Power Cement 7.1 million, Maple Leaf Cement 6.6 million, PIA 6.5 million and Bank of Punjab 4.5 million shares. Arhum Ghous of JS Research observed a volatile day at the bourse. The analyst said sentiment in oil and gas sector was mixed due to rebounding global crude oil prices. National Bank, which announced an EPS of Rs 7.06 and Rs 5.5 dividend in its year-end results, remained in the limelight.
Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited gained 1.9 percent after announcing EPS of Rs 0.04 in its 2QFY15 results.
Bears dominated the cement sector on account of what the analyst said persistent rumours of a possible cartel break-up apparent by a sharp drop in price of market leader LUCK (-2.5 percent) during the week. "Moving forward, we expect the market to remain volatile mainly due to lack of any trigger," Arhum maintained.
