RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: A bearish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange due to heavy selling by local and foreign investors. The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 451.94 points and closed at 47,125.12 points Monday.
Daily trading volumes increased to 154.156 million shares as compared to 125.767 million shares traded Friday. The market capitalization decreased by Rs 81 billion to Rs 9.341 trillion. Out of total 373 active scrips, 289 closed in negative, only 71 in positive while the value of 13 stocks remained unchanged. Foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $2.9 million.
TRG Pak was the volume leader with 16.262 million shares. It gained Rs 0.41 to close at Rs 50.47 followed by Aisha Steel Mill that lost Rs 0.55 to close at Rs 23.60 with 6.932 million shares. Engro Polymer closed at Rs 25.36, up Rs 0.41 with 6.888 million shares.
Nestle Pakistan and Khyber Tobacco were the top gainers with Rs 342.50 and Rs 32.00, respectively to close at Rs 9,642.50 and Rs 900.00. Wyeth Pak and Sapphire Textile were the top losers with Rs 124.10 and Rs 62.77, respectively to close at Rs 2,357.94 and Rs 1,192.74.
Nabeel Haroon at JS Global Capital said that the market opened on a positive note, however, this positivity was short-lived as skeptical investors came in to offload their holding as the day progressed. Selling was witnessed across-the-board, as the index lost to make an intraday low of 834 points. However some recovery was witnessed in the market during the latter hours, as the index recovered to close at 47,125 level, down 452 points. Selling pressure in the market can be attributed to investors’ skepticism regarding the ongoing political scenario. Major index movers were HBL (down 1.80 percent), ENGRO (down 3.39 percent) and FFC (down 3.75 percent). In the refinery sector two major companies NRL (up 2.56 percent) and ATRL (down 4.91 percent) declared their 9MFY17 result respectively. NRL gained as the refinery in its 9MFY17 result posted EPS of Rs 83.46/share which was 27 percent higher, whereas on the other hand ATRL lost value to close in the red zone as the company posted EPS of Rs39.74/share which was lower than the market expectation. POL (up 1.42 percent) in the E&P sector provided support to the index as the company declared its 9MFY17 result. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed sharply lower amid thin trade on concerns for prevailing political uncertainty. Oil stocks outperformed on surging sales data and record earnings announcement by Pakistan Oilfields for the quarter ended Mar 31, 2017. Pre-budget uncertainty and concerns over impact of Panamagate case decisions played a catalytic role in bearish close.
