RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed panic selling due to investor concerns over prevailing political situation in the country.

BRIndex100 declined by 122.46 points or 2.55 percent to close at 4,687.19 points Thursday. BRIndex 100 touched 4,815.18 points intra-day high, however dropped to 4,677.16 points intra-day low due to selling pressure. The trading volume stood at 152.363 million shares.

Selling was seen from local and offshore investors. Foreigners sold equities worth $3.3 million.

BRIndex30 decreased by 675.86 points or 2.83 percent to close at 23,183.96 points with total volume of 105.366 million shares.

The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 1,050.90 points to close at 43,136.06 points. The trading volume decreased to 167.265 million shares as compared to 187.249 million shares traded Wednesday. The market capitalization declined by Rs 196 billion to Rs 8.982 trillion. Out of total 367 active scrips, 314 closed in negative, only 43 in positive while the value of 10 stocks remained unchanged.

Azgard Nine was the volume leader with 11.441 million shares. However, it lost Rs 0.61 to close at Rs 15.26 followed by Bank of Punjab that declined by Rs 0.30 to close at Rs 10.29 with 11.074 million shares. Khyber Tobacco and Jubilee Life Ins were the top gainers with Rs 28.34 and Rs 19.90, respectively to close at Rs 828.33 and Rs 799.90. Rafhan Maize and Philip Morris Pak were the top losers with Rs 200.00 and Rs 123.11, respectively to close at Rs 6,750.00 and Rs 2,501.00.

BR Commercial Banks Index declined by 189.48 points or 2.21 percent and closed at 8,391.32 points with total turnover of 21.094 million shares.

BR Cement Index closed at 6,723.78 points, down 187.35 points or 2.71 percent with 12.936 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index decreased by 156.46 points or 3.08 percent to close at 4,930.00 points with total turnover of 17.801 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,329.73 points, down 34.06 points or 2.5 percent with 14.459 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined by 139.8 points or 1.99 percent to close at 6,870.38 points with 7.192 million shares.

Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said that negativity prevailed in the market during the day. The negative sentiments were likely a result of political turbulence, coming from the recent announcement of NAB’s Friday summon for former PM Nawaz Sharif and his two sons. ABL (down 0.60 percent) from the banking sector announced its result for the first half of 2017 an EPS of Rs 5.75 and DPS of Rs 1.75, taking first half of 2017 payout to Rs 3.5. HUBC (down 2.19 percent) also declared its result for FY17, EPS Rs 9.24 and DPS Rs 2.50 for the period was announced. INIL (down 2.68 percent) from the steel sector posted its financial result for FY17, where the company posted an EPS of Rs 22.91 and final cash dividend of Rs 2/share was announced. Commercial bank heavyweight stocks HBL (down 3.18 percent), MCB (down 2.59 percent) and UBL (down 1.86 percent) were among the major laggards of the KSE 100 index. PPL (down 2.24 percent), POL (down 4.83 percent) and OGDC (down 3.17 percent) from the E&P sector cumulatively contributed minus 143 points to the index. ISL (down 3.65 percent), INIL (down 2.68 percent) and ASL (down 4.91 percent) from the steel sector also closed in the red zone.